Unspeakable Charms
by ayregirl
Summary: George and Hermione are recruited to an elite team of Charms experts to research an ancient artifact. The end result could change their lives, as well as the lives of many others, living and dead. GeorgeW/HG
1. Chapter 1

**I don't own Harry Potter, that right belongs to JK Rowling. Enjoy the story, and if you don't please don't leave a mean comment. **** Thanks for reading!**

Hermione sighed as she read the letter in her hand. She just wasn't sure what to do about it and she couldn't ask anyone for advice. On one hand, it was a great opportunity, on the other, she hated keeping things from her friends and wasn't sure she could handle not sharing information. The letter read:

_Miss Granger, _

_You are the only one able to read this letter. Please do not attempt to show it to anyone, if you do you will be placed under a memory charm and won't remember ever receiving it. Also, do not mention its contents to anyone._

_We at the Department of Mysteries have watched you throughout your Hogwarts years and beyond and believe you would be a valuable asset to the Unspeakables. We would like you to join us. We cannot tell you what you would be working on, but please note that nobody can know that you are an Unspeakable in the position that we are offering. _

_If you would like to accept, please prick your finger and place it in the blue box in the lower left corner of the letter and we will arrange a meeting with you. If you decline our offer, prick your finger and place it in the red box in the upper right corner of the page. The answer will be transmitted to us, the letter will be destroyed and you will have no recollection of this correspondence. _

_Please consider our offer, the compensation is high and you will get to work your mind like never before. Remember to keep this to yourself. We hope you hear from you quickly. _

_Sincerely, _

_Master Unspeakable Firefox_

_Dept. of Mysteries_

She re-read the letter and decided to set it aside for the night, she was going out with friends and she didn't want to decide right this second. Firefox could wait until morning for an answer; the letter never said there was a time limit.

A few hours later Hermione grabbed her cloak and took one last look in the mirror. She was plain looking but tonight she tried to look a little better. She had on dark wash jeans, black patent leather heels, and a black cotton tank top with a few silver chains and black beads as a necklace.

When she got to the club everyone was meeting at she was surprised that she wasn't the first one there. George Weasley usually had to be dragged out of his apartment, but he was already nursing a firewhiskey at a table. Hermione got her drink quickly and headed over to him.

"Hey Hermione, how's it goin?" Hermione was shocked, George had practically been silent since his twin brother Fred died in the last battle of the war. He had given their joke shop to their other siblings to run. Ginny and Bill had done a great job running the joke shop as Bill had taught the twins a lot about pranking in the first place, and they had passed down some info to their mischievous little sister. Hermione wasn't sure what George was even up to these days.

"I'm doing pretty good, just have a lot to think about, you know, the future and all that. It's hard to know what to do sometimes. I always helped Harry solve his Voldemort problems, it seems like my whole life led up to that and now I'm not sure who I am or what I'm supposed to do. How about you?" George looked at her like he had never seen her before.

"Well I was actually sitting here feeling the exact same way. It was always me and… Fred. We worked all our lives toward the joke shop and protecting our family. It seems like I don't have a purpose without him. I never thought you'd feel that way too."

Hermione laughed "You know George, I know for a fact Harry felt that way before he joined the aurors. He spent his whole life fighting Voldemort. Now he made a choice, he's an auror, he loves your sister, and he knows what he wants his future to look like. I guess I just need to make a choice too…"

Both of them sat in silence for a few minutes thinking, then the door to the club opened and let in a sea of red. The other Weasleys had arrived as well as Harry and some of their other friends, Luna, Neville, Lee, and Katie. They greeted everyone and spent the rest of the night laughing and trying to be a part of the group. Looking around they both noticed that everyone there seemed to have some sort of purpose. Ron was a professional quidditch player, Harry an auror, Ginny and Bill ran the shop, Percy taught potions at Hogwarts, Charlie had his dragons, Luna wrote for the Quibbler, Neville taught Herbology, Lee was a Quidditch announcer, and Katie was a marketer for Puddlemere United.

Hermione said goodnight to everyone and apparated back to her flat. She looked around and realized she had no purpose, she worked at a bookstore and wasn't doing anything with her life. Time to make a decision. She picked up the letter she had been reading earlier and pricked her finger. She finally placed it in the blue box. It lit up and said:

_Welcome to the Unspeakables Hermione Granger. This letter just became a portkey and will activate at 9am tomorrow morning. We'll see you then._

In his flat in Diagon Alley, George Weasley was thinking about the conversation he'd shared with Hermione earlier that night. He had kept to himself after Fred died. It was like half of George died that night as well. But that happened two years ago and maybe it was time to open himself up to life again. He'd live for his brother and make him proud.


	2. Chapter 2

**I don't own Harry Potter, that right belongs to JK Rowling. Enjoy the story, and if you don't please don't leave a mean comment. **** Thanks for reading!**

The next morning Hermione woke up and got ready. She wasn't sure what she'd need for her new career, so she just made sure she had a muggle notebook and pen to take notes. She didn't know why the wizarding world still used parchment and quills, but for taking important notes, especially if she'd be walking around, a pen and paper seemed so much more efficient.

She grabbed her cloak and bag and took hold of the portkey, immediately feeling the tug behind her navel. When she arrived at her destination she wasn't surprised to find herself in the Department of Mysteries, what did surprise her was that she was in the Death Chamber with the veil that Sirius had fallen through. She looked up and almost laughed when she saw who she was standing with.

She first noticed Filius Flitwick, her charms teacher from Hogwarts. He was wearing black robes with gold lining and had a big smile on his face. Then her gaze turned to the astonished looking George Weasley. They locked eyes for a moment and then the side of his mouth quirked up and both started laughing, knowing what their conversation the night before had really meant to both of them.

Flitwick cleared his throat and smiled, shaking their hands. "Hi you two. Might I introduce myself, Master Unspeakable Firefox at your service." He smirked at them when their jaws dropped.

"I am so glad that both of you accepted my offer. You are the most gifted charms students I have had in my many years of teaching, the only other reaching your level being Lily Potter. That said, lets get started with the real introduction to your new lives. As I already said, I am a Master Unspeakable. That means I am at the top, only the Master Unspeakables know who each other are and I only know the full basis of my team. While I might work with others, I never learn their real names or know the full status of any other team. I only know who the other Master Unspeakables are, and yes I do know their names. As you have guessed, you can have other employment while being an Unspeakable. It is actually preferable so that your friends and family don't get too suspicious. In your cases I would highly recommend coming up with a very good cover story, Mr. Potter seems to know when you lie and will always follow up if he is curious. But you already knew that I'm sure."

"Now, I chose to recruit the two of you for a few reasons. First, you are both brilliant charms experts with good work ethic. Second, I can trust you and know that you have excellent morals and values. And third, I believe that you could both benefit from this opportunity in many different ways. Now, as to what you will be doing. I trust you, Hermione, know where we are."

"Yes sir, we're in the Department of Mysteries, the Death Chamber to be exact." She tried to sound confident but the memories of that night were washing over her. George saw her pale and reached out to grab her hand. He knew that she had just as many, if not more, horrible memories than him, and recognized the look on her face. This place must bring some of those back.

"Absolutely right Miss Granger. Would you care to explain what you know of this room, and maybe help Mr. Weasley here understand your wariness to be in this place? I need to go get your new robes and run another errand. I'll be back shortly." Flitwick or Firefox, left them standing there.

George looked at Hermione and saw that she wasn't quite ready to share. She was standing at the top of the stairs looking down at the dais with the veil while rubbing her chest. He could hear faint voices from the veil and started to walk toward it so that he could hear better. Hermione saw his movement and grabbed his arm before he could get too far. The shock pulled him out of his stupor and he saw her grim expression.

"You remember in my fifth year, me, Harry, Ron, Ginny, Luna, and Neville all came to the Dept. of Mysteries? Well, there was a battle. Voldemort wanted a prophecy about Harry and made him believe that he was torturing Sirius in order to lure him here." George had already heard most of this story but nodded his head for her to continue.

"We rode thestrals here from Hogwarts and after some searching, we finally found the Hall of Prophecies. Harry led us to where Sirius was supposed to be, but he wasn't there. That's when we knew it was a trap. Lucius Malfoy, Bellatrix Lestrange and a few others ambushed us and we ended up separating into two groups. Me, Neville and Harry in one and Ron, Ginny, and Luna in the other. My group ended up in a time room. We smashed all of the time turners on accident and ended up making a death eater fall into a bell jar that held time so his head kept changing into a baby and then back to his real age."

She took a deep breath and seemed to pale more before George's eyes so he held her hand again, letting her know that she was safe and that she would get through it.

"The three of us ended up hiding and I cast silencio on one of the death eaters. He sliced me with a purple curse and only because he was silenced did I live. It knocked me out immediately and Harry thought I was dead. Harry finally showed me his memories of that night so I can still tell you what happened. Basically Ron was attacked by a brain, that's what the scars on his arms are from by the way, Ginny broke her ankle, and Luna was still ok. Neville had a broken nose so he couldn't pronounce any spells, and his wand was broken but he grabbed mine while he carried me to safety. Harry and Neville ended up back in here, the Death Chamber and Lucius almost got the prophecy. But then the Order showed up."

She took a deep breath, the next part would be hard. "Sirius knew Harry would be here so he came to protect his godson. Everyone fought and all was going pretty well, Tonks was injured but everyone else was doing ok, but then… then Sirius started battled Bellatrix. They were cousins you know? So they hated each other even more than the others. Sirius laughed at something and Bellatrix hit him with a curse. From what I could see it was a red light, so I think maybe a stunner? Anyways, he had this look on his face that I'll never get out of my mind. He was shocked and still half laughing, and fell in an almost graceful arch through the veil down there. He happened to be standing in front of it and the curse hit him hard enough to stumble back into it. It's known at the Veil of Death. He never came back out. He disappeared. That's about all I know, except that it is very confusing to navigate down here and I hope that Flitwick will show us how to get around."

"Very good Miss Granger. Now, I know that you both have known me for many years as Professor Flitwick, but starting now you must call me Firefox to protect my identity from any other unspeakables you might encounter."

George just nodded. His mind was still reeling from Hermione's story. He had known they went to the DOM in their fifth year after he and Fred had left, but hadn't heard the whole story, he just knew that Sirius never came back from that encounter. He looked back at Flit…Firefox and tried to focus.

"Here are your new robes, I have a very small team, only five unspeakables including you two, and I can start you at whatever level I wish. I know you both very well and after a few more questions of each of you I think I'll be safe to start you both as silver level unspeakables, which is just one level below a master. Now, just to make sure, you both received a NEWT in Charms correct? You have been taught by a master (he winked), and oh yes, do you both have an animagus form?"

George looked up, he was an animagus, but he hadn't told anyone. He and Fred had become animagus' before the final battle. He had been using his form to help him grieve and escape his pain at times. He finally nodded to the tiny professor.

At the same time Hermione was thinking about her seventh year. After Ron had left them in the tent on their journey, her and Harry had decided that since they couldn't do anything yet about the horcruxes, they would be proactive and learn to be animagus'. It was a link to Harry's dad and Sirius that she knew helped him deal with everything, and for her it was a new adventure that could be really useful at some point. She also looked up at Flitwick and nodded.

He smiled, knowing the answer already, and knowing they were both unregistered. "Your forms?"

"An otter" they both said. Firefox smiled and shook his head. He could see why they would both take that form. Otters were very clever and could be very mischievous at times.

George and Hermione looked at each other, shocked to hear the confessions. Hermione had expected George to say some kind of monkey because his and Fred's patronuses were little Capuchin monkeys in the DA and it usually went together.

"And you can both practice Occlumency correct?" They both nodded.

"Alright then, you will be silver unspeakables. Now we need to come up with names for you."


	3. Chapter 3

**I don't own Harry Potter, that right belongs to JK Rowling. Enjoy the story, and if you don't please don't leave a mean comment. **** Thanks for reading!**

Firefox left them again to come up with their names. He needed to check on his other team while they worked together on names.

"Hmm I think I'll work on yours and you can work on mine" George said while looking at Hermione.

"Ok well lets see, we're both otters so we know how they are, I think that you are an otter because you're playful and mischievous, even if it's not as noticeable as before how about… Flip? No… Unspeakable Flip sounds silly" She laughed at that and tried a few more names with their title in front of them. Finally the light bulb went on in her brain and she found the perfect name for him.

"I know, Unspeakable Rascal. Haha" She grinned at him and he laughed when he heard the name. It was perfect. She knew him so well even if he had lost himself when Fred died, he was still a rascal and he loved that now it sounded like he was an unspeakable rascal. Awesome. He started to think of her name.

"I love it. Ok well you're an otter because you're so curious and adventurous. You're also really smart…hmm how about Slick? Unspeakable Slick. I kinda like it" He grinned at her. She thought about it and decided that was better than anything she could come up with.

Slick and Rascal decided they should probably show each other their otter forms so they both transformed. George was a red coated North American River otter with deep blue eyes and a missing ear. Hermione was a dark brown spotted neck otter with brown eyes and a lighter line across her chest. They looked at each other and then decided to play till Firefox got back. They hopped up and down the stairs, keeping away from the dais. They were having fun together, something George hadn't really been able to do since Fred died. He hadn't had his otter buddy to play with.

They both stopped when they heard a noise and saw Firefox standing there laughing at them. Both quickly transformed back and started laughing as well.

"So who am I speaking with?"

"I am Rascal and this lovely lady is Slick." Firefox nodded and decided he really liked their names and they fit their personalities perfectly.

"Ok now to give you your assignment." First he handed them both a binder that was charmed so only they could read it. It listed all of the rules of the Unspeakables and also gave them clues on how to navigate the Dept. of Mysteries. Hermione, or Slick, couldn't believe that in the circular room with the doors, all you had to do was ask for the door you wanted. They had wasted so much time in fifth year!

"Please read the binder tonight, you can read it together or separate. Keep it somewhere safe, it'll update to show whatever cover story you tell your family and friends so that it will not look suspicious if someone finds it. People would wonder about a blank notebook."

"Now you know that I recruited you because you are both very gifted in charms. There is also a reason we met in the Death Chamber. I believe that the two of you can work out the secret of the Veil. Many other teams in the Dept of Mysteries have tried to unlock its secrets but I am certain it is charms that are the key. I also have some other news for you. I would like for you to test any theories you may come up with on real people. Obviously Sirius fell through the Veil last and you may want to start with him. I believe however that anyone can be pulled from the Veil. I am just not sure what catalyst would bring this situation. The Veil is a magical archway, it may very well have judgements and ideas. In your notebooks I have included a section that shows all of the research we currently have on the veil. Look it over, work together. You don't have a time limit. I ask that you work at least 20 hours per week in the Dept. You must put in 40 hours a week total however. Any questions?"

Both were too overloaded with information to think of questions so they just shook their heads.

"Alright then I'll leave you to your reading. I need to get back to Hogwarts. If you do have questions, I have placed a mirror in both of your cloaks, just say Firefox and you will reach me. They will also work with your names. If you say Rascal you will speak to him, Slick will call Slick. Keep them on at all times, if there is an emergency or I need to contact you that is how I will do it. I don't think I need to say this to you two, but also keep your wand on you at all times. The Unspeakables are ultimately one large team and if we need to, we will go out on other missions besides the work you are doing here. You know how to reach me, welcome to the team."

Firefox walked off and Rascal and Slick both looked down at their binders.

"Well my brain is already a little fried, do you want to go get some lunch and then we can try to read through some of this stuff?" Rascal asked.

"Sure" Slick said and then looked through the binder to find the section on how to get out of the DOM without being seen.

A few minutes later the friends were sitting outside of a muggle sandwich shop munching on their lunch and catching up with each other. They couldn't talk about anything outside of the DOM unless they absolutely had to or used a certain spell which they hadn't learned yet. So they just relaxed and got to know each other better. Both were immensely pleased to be working with someone they knew.

After lunch they went back to the Death Chamber and set up a work station with a comfy couch and chair and coffee table. They had a lot of research to go through and needed to be able to concentrate so they set up a good environment that both would enjoy. Hermione set up a protective shield around the veil so that they would stop hearing the voices behind it. They got started on their research and worked until much later that night. They also talked about what they would tell their friends and family. Both needed to find a job that they could hide behind, but Firefox had given them an idea.


	4. Chapter 4

**I don't own Harry Potter, that right belongs to JK Rowling. Enjoy the story, and if you don't please don't leave a mean comment. **** Thanks for reading!**

A week later found George and Hermione packing up their trunks to go to Hogwarts. They had both talked to Headmistress McGonagall and had new jobs. Hermione would be the Muggle Studies teacher and George would be the new Flying Instructor. These jobs worked out perfectly for them because they weren't main subjects, meaning fewer students and fewer responsibilities. Neville and Percy were there as teachers as well but since they weren't that close to George and Hermione they wouldn't notice when they disappeared to become Rascal and Slick.

Hermione shrunk her last trunk and apparated over to George's flat. She knocked and laughed when he opened the door. He clearly wasn't ready to go yet. Socks and jumpers were lying all over his bed, all of his robes were still in his closet, and he didn't even have his broom shrunken yet. She walked in, waved her wand and said "Pack" and everything flew into his trunks, folding and organizing as it went. George just stood there gobsmacked. Why hadn't he thought of that? How did he not know that charm?

"Thanks Mione!" He said and threw his arms around her. He'd been packing for hours and she had finished in seconds.

"What did you just call me?" She wasn't mad, just curious. Nobody really ever gave her a nickname, except Slick of course. Ron tried but he called her Hermy and that SOOO didn't work for her.

George cocked his head, like a curious otter would "I called you Mione, sorry sweets but your name is too long sometimes. Is that ok? I thought it fit you." He said with a grin.

She laughed "Yeah it's great, thanks George, well should we go then? We'll apparate by the Shrieking Shack and then go up to the school?"

"Sure, but don't you know the Shack is haunted?"

"Oh George you have so much to learn. Not only is the Shack not haunted. I've been in it. With Harry, Ron, Remus, and Sirius. People thought it was haunted because that was where Remus transformed every month. His howls made people think it was haunted. And you want to know how to get there?" He nodded, there wasn't much he didn't know about the school, and this was exciting new information.

"The tunnel under the Whomping Willow. Oh and you know who the Marauders are right?"

"What the Whomping Willow… wow we never thought that tunnel got used. It makes sense though; they wouldn't want anyone running across Lupin in that state. And-wait… did you just say you know who the Marauders were? Tell me tell me tell me! Please Mione?" He was on his knees pleading for the information that him and Fred had searched for for years.

"Sorry, you'll have to wait; we really do need to get going." Hermione said with a smirk and disapparated from his flat.

"Oh that woman. She's good. I'll get it out of her though." George followed her.

After they were settled in at the school and had said hi to their fellow teachers, Flitwick giving them a big wink, they decided to try to figure out a place that they could research so they didn't actually have to go to the DOM every day.

"Well, there is always the Shrieking Shack, but somebody could get in there. Ron and Harry know how at least. A lot of people know about the Room of Requirements so that's out. Especially with Neville here. He mastered that room in our seventh year when Snape was Headmaster. OHHHH I know exactly where we can go! It's perfect! Oh but I wonder if we can get in…." Hermione was thinking out loud and suddenly stopped and put her wand to her head and pulled out a strand of silvery memory. She conjured a ball much like the ones she had seen in the Hall of Prophecies and put the memory inside.

"Mione why do we need a memory globe to get into wherever you just came up with?" George was confused.

"Because I can't speak Parseltongue and Harry can't now either. But I've heard him use it and this is a memory of that. Follow me and let's see if this will work." George was still confused but Hermione seemed like she knew exactly what she was doing so he trusted her. She was one of the people he would always trust. He got a little curious when she led him to a girls bathroom however.

"Mione why are we going to Moaning Myrtle's bathroom? It's a girl's loo and I'm not allowed in there… not to mention I don't want to see Myrtle." The last part he mumbled to himself.

"Because this is the entrance to our secret research area! Come on, trust me!" Well George couldn't really argue with that so he made sure the coast was clear and entered the loo with her. She walked up to the sinks and went to a certain tap. She pulled out the memory globe and tapped it with her wand. A little figure of Harry floated above the globe and hissed something. Before George could really think, the sink slid back and dropped into the floor, opening up what looked like an entrance. Then he understood where they were going. Hermione put the globe back into her bag and jumped down the hole with George following closely behind. Before he could stop he plowed into her and landed on top of her.

"Welcome to the Chamber of Secrets George, you wanna get off me now?" Hermione wasn't all that concerned with him on top of her, it actually felt nice, and the look he was giving her made her want to reach up and kiss him, but now wasn't the time and she was fairly certain she just imagined the look on his face.

George got up and held his hand out for her; he couldn't get the image out of his mind. She was gorgeous. He really wanted to get to know her better, she was the first person that had really gotten him to laugh or open up again since Fred died.

She led him through the front cave part to the doors leading to the actual chamber. Her and Ron had left them open when they came to get the fangs during the last battle. She idly wondered if they could change the password on the door. They went through to the chamber and George's eyes widened when he saw the slain basilisk. It hadn't decayed at all. He knew the story of Ginny's rescue and that Harry had killed the beast, but to see how big it was really added to the already immense respect he had for his friend.

He saw the statue of Salazar Slytherin and noticed the opening of the mouth. "Hey Mione, do you think there's anything up there?" He said pointing to the opening.

"We never thought to look, I know from Harry's story that that's where the basilisk lived, but other than that I have no idea. Let's take a look. Maybe we should call Firefox and let him know where we are though in case something happens." George thought that was a great idea and put on the glamour charms he had read about in his binder. He pulled out his mirror and called Firefox.

"Hey, we found a great place to research that is totally and completely secure within Hogwarts, do you think we could work here instead of the DOM for the most part?"

"Depends on where you are, are you sure it's secure?"

"Well it's the Chamber of Secrets so I would think so. It took hundreds of years to find it. The only way we can even get in is with Hermione's memory of Harry speaking parseltongue."

Firefox chuckled "Well that certainly is a secure place; I think that would be fine, you should be able to just go to the other place when you need to. I have to go, Minerva wants a word." With that the mirror went to black.

"Got the ok Mione, lets check out old Sally's brain." Mione laughed and George led the way into the opening. The walked a little and soon came upon a door. They could see the area where the basilisk must have slept, but the door was on another wall. It was almost like the snake was guarding it. They went to it and tried to open it after checking for jinxes. Hermione pulled out the memory globe again and had Harry say "Open" and they heard a click. George opened the door slowly and gasped. Hermione had to sit down, for they had found a library the size of the Hogwarts library. She picked up a book and noted that it was written by Slytherin himself. Another was written by Godric Gryffindor. They found books by all four founders and realized they had hit the jackpot. Surely one of these books would have the information they sought.

They didn't even speak as both went around finding books that could be of use and sat down to start their research.


	5. Chapter 5

**I don't own Harry Potter, that right belongs to JK Rowling. Enjoy the story, and if you don't please don't leave a mean comment. ****J**** Thanks for reading! **

After months of work trying to figure out the secrets of the veil, George and Hermione finally thought they had their answers. Using Slytherin's library, which was full of books by the founders, and also included family histories and many other things, they finally found a book about Godric Gryffindor's family. Reading this book to try to clear her mind for more research, Hermione stumbled across a passage referencing the Veil of Death; only it wasn't called that in the book.

It was described as an archway with a fluttering veil leading to an empty space. People who went through the veil would not die, but would be compelled to think about their lives and the love that they had for others and the bravery they showed. It was a punishment instituted by Godric's grandfather. He would cast a certain spell on you, put you through the veil to help you learn respect, humility, and appreciation, then he would cast another spell to pull you out. However, if you went into the veil without the first charm, you wouldn't be able to leave. People inside the veil couldn't bring others out with them.

A few chapters later in the book, Hermione found the charms she would need to use the veil. She translated the runes and found how the charm worked. Then she called George over to see her work.

"George! Rascal! I found it! I found the answer!" George looked up and jumped out of his seat, running over to Hermione. They'd become closer since working together and were now the best of friends. Living secret lives together would do that to anyone.

"What did you find Mione? Info on the veil? Where was it at? We've looked through almost every book in here…" George trailed off to let Hermione answer his questions while he leaned over her shoulder.

"Oh Merlin George, it was all in this book about Gryffindor, I was just looking at it to clear my mind a little and I stumbled across this!" She pointed the passage and chapters about the "Archway of Truths" to George and had him read. When he was finished his smile lit up his face in a way Hermione hadn't seen since Fred died, he turned to Hermione and hugged her tight, then lifted her up and twirled her around while still holding her close and laughing.

"George! I've already translated the runes and know the charms; I think we can save all the people we want to!" Hermione continued while George twirled her, she was so happy she was babbling and was very much enjoying the feel of George's arms around her.

"God Mione, you're a genius, you are so amazing!" He stopped twirling and loosened his arms, letting her slowly slide down to the floor. He looked down at her and moved a curl behind her ear, his fingers lingering on her cheek.

"Mione you are so beautiful, can I kiss you?" He wanted to ask, they were great friends and he didn't want to ruin it if she didn't feel the same way. His heart belonged to her and he was so happy right now all he wanted to do was kiss her.

Hermione looked up at George and could see this wasn't just because he was excited by her discovery, and she had been harboring feelings for George for a few months now. So she whispered a confident "yes" and waited for George's lips to meet her own.

George was waiting for her answer and when he heard it he slid his fingers from her cheek to her neck and pulled her forward. He leaned in slowly and closed his eyes; his other hand found its way to the other side of her neck and slid into her curls. He exhaled and finally their lips met. George poured all of his feelings for her into the kiss and let her know he loved her before he ever would say the words. It was electric, the way their lips moved together. He felt her responding and pulled her a bit closer, deepening the kiss and reveling in the feel of her. He slowly pulled back and rested his forehead on hers. They both had big goofy smiles for each other.

"That was amazing Mione, can I keep doing that? Will you be my girlfriend?" George was a little nervous to ask, but after that kiss he was pretty certain she would agree.

"If I can kiss you anytime I want, then I would love to be your girlfriend George." Hermione answered. Then her brain clicked back on and she pulled him back to the table she'd been working at and explained the charms and the archway. They made a list of the people they wanted to save for certain and included the date of their deaths. They also came up with their plans for the first rescue attempt and worked out a way for the charm to work on people that have died. A few hours later they were finished with their work.

"We need to test the charms, but I think we should at least get Firefox's opinion on this before we start working. Should I call him?" It was after classes for the night and Firefox would hopefully be able to meet them, so George called him with their mirrors and met him up in the girl's bathroom to let him into the Chamber.

"Ok you two, what have you come up with that has you so excited?" Firefox was smiling; he knew these two so well and knew that they had to have found something important.

Hermione explained what she found out about the veil and then explained the charms.

"For the charms, the incantation itself is pretty simple, as is the wand movement. It's much like a patronus in the fact that you have to focus on an emotion to fuel it. It also takes a shape and you can command it. I believe that you have to focus on your love for the person or on someone's love for them at least. Godric's grandfather used the archway as a way to make people appreciate the things around them and prove their bravery. When he cast them into the veil it wasn't because he didn't like them, it was because he loved them enough to want them to learn a lesson and be a better person. He was also big on bravery, so I'm not completely convinced the inside of the archway is just a blank expanse. A huge trait of Gryffindor is to be brave, but as we all know, many acts of bravery are foolish. I think this is mostly why he used the archway. If someone did something brave without thinking of the consequences, the archway would show them that yes they were brave, but look at what they could have lost if they died."

All three contemplated that for a minute before Hermione started speaking again.

"Our theory is this: for example, if Rascal goes back in time to cast the charm on Fred before he dies, he would need to find Fred during the last battle, focus on his love for Fred, cast the charm and then make sure it hit Fred right before he died. Then, when he came back to our time, we would go to the death chamber, cast the return charm and say Fred's name, focusing on his bravery and our love for him, and he should be able to either walk out or it would work as a summoning charm and pull him out. Also, because I was there at the time Fred was killed, we would need Rascal to cast the charm, but Harry, Ron, and Percy were all there too, so Rascal would need to cast the charm and have it wait until the right time."

George continued the explanation. "We think that since everyone we want to save is from the past, we should start with the most recent ones and try the whole process with them so the veil doesn't have so many people in it for so long. We don't know how many can come and go. It's an ancient artifact and we don't want to overload it. We think it'll be ok with the groups of people who died the same day, because they'll enter together when we cast the spell. Also, since we aren't actually 'saving' them, it won't change the timeline. We're bringing them back instead. Here's a list of who we want to try first, some names you might wonder about, but we're positive they're on the light side and were brave."

_Fabian and Gideon Prewett: 09/14/81_

_James and Lily Potter: 10/31/81_

_Regulus Black: 04/21/84_

_Sky Lovegood: 07/17/90_

_Cedric Diggory: 06/23/94_

_Sirius Black: 06/17/95_

_Amelia Bones: 07/05/95_

_Nymphadora Lupin, Remus Lupin, Fred Weasley, Severus Snape, Colin Creevey: 05/05/97_

"The only one we're really not sure on is Sky Lovegood, we know she was experimenting with charms, and that Luna saw, but we're not sure if she did anything brave to cause her death. Everyone else was either in battle, protecting someone, or doing something courageous. We didn't put Dumbledore on here because he died from a curse that he got from being selfish. As much as we want to save him, it wouldn't work. His actual moment of death was heroic to a point, he was trying to save Draco and give him a better life than a killer and he was protecting Harry, but the curse he had would catch up to him after he was pulled from the archway unfortunately." Hermione continued.

"Well it looks like you have thought this out thoroughly, not that I expected any less of you both. I assume you have an idea on how you'll travel back in time?"

"Yes Firefox, that was Rascal's project and he has come up with something brilliant. He's come up with a spell that will allow us to travel in time together if we think of exactly when and where we want to go. We've tested it around here and it definitely works going forward and back in time." George beamed at the praise and Firefox nodded, he always knew the Weasley twins were brilliant.

"One last question, it doesn't sound like the people that grandpa Gryffindor sent through the veil were dead at the time, how are you planning to fix that? I assume you were still planning on everyone dying as you said you would be retrieving them, but many of them are buried or missing. You're not planning to dig them up right?" Firefox couldn't help but ask while he laughed; he knew they would have worked this out but he was curious, he wasn't a Ravenclaw for nothing.

"Oh Slick and I reconfigured the charm a bit, instead of protecting and bringing back the actual person, we're protecting their souls and then the return charm will provide them with a copy of their body at the time they were happiest, it'll provide it while they're still in the archway since none have bodies available here." George said.

"The only person we'll probably have to change the charm for is Sirius, we might be able to use the original charm for him since we're not sure if he was dead at the time he fell through the veil, we'll need to watch a memory for that since Rascal wasn't at that battle and I was unconscious. Hopefully once we retrieve Remus he can provide his memory. We can't ask Harry to relive that night because it's one of his worst memories, and he would be incredibly suspicious, he already looks at us funny."

Firefox laughed again, if anyone figured out that Rascal and Slick were up to something it would be Harry Potter.

"If Harry asks you, tell him you're Unspeakables, being the head of the auror department he needs to be able to trust you both. You don't want him starting an investigation and blowing your cover. We all trust him so tell him what you need to, you have my permission." Firefox told them. He knew that Harry would ask soon, he loved them both and every time he came to visit Hogwarts Firefox saw his looks of unease at his friends. He also had memories of a lot of the events they would be traveling too. The boy had seen way to much death, but he agreed that he need to relive his godfather's death.

"Thanks Firefox, it seems like he's the only one that's noticed. We're doing great with our classes and our cover stories. Harry just knows Slick better than anyone else and can see a difference in me as well. We'll try to talk to him soon to alleviate his fears." George said, while planning to ask Harry to come to lunch in a few days. First, he really wanted to test out their theory. Hopefully the next time they saw Harry, everyone he loved would be alive again.

"We're going to test our theory tonight for the people at the last battle; we'll be leaving from here and returning to the same place. We'll mirror you when we get back tonight. We'd like to go the Department of Mysteries as soon as we get back in order to pull everyone out, is that ok?" Hermione asked, hoping her boss would agree with their request.

"That sounds like a great plan Slick, how long do you expect to take?"

George answered this question "Well the charm to take us back doesn't work like a timeturner so time still passes here while we're gone, but a bit slower. I'd say if we leave by say 9 here we should be back around 10:30, if we're not back, try using the mirrors to contact us. We should be in our animagus forms for the most part to avoid detection, so we might not answer right away. We're planning to meet up in the kitchens at midnight since we'll be done by then. I've cast a charm on my research so that if something happens to us it will let you see the charm to go back in time to try and find us." He said cheekily, hoping nobody would have to come to the rescue.

"Very well, get on with it then, and good luck my friends. I hope to see some people with you when you return. I would suggest keeping all of the people you return from the veil together until everyone is returned so we can come up with a good cover story. We wouldn't want everyone trying to get a relative out now would we?"

Hermione and George laughed and said goodbye to Flitwick.

"Well Rascal, are you ready?"

"More than ready, you know the plan right? You'll get Remus, Tonks, and Colin, and I'll get Fred and Snape. Meet back at the kitchens at midnight so we can come back. I'll have my mirror, let me know if you run into trouble. And Mione? I love you, and thank you for everything you've done for me. I'm afraid if we kiss now we'll never leave though, so I promise to kiss you later" He said seriously at first, but threw in the joke at the end.

"Ok I'll hold you to that! Now think of where we're going. On three, One… Two… Three…"

TEMPINIO RICCO CARTA!


	6. Chapter 6

**I don't own Harry Potter, that right belongs to JK Rowling. Enjoy the story, and if you don't please don't leave a mean comment. ****J**** Thanks for reading!**

GPOV

After they popped out of the Chamber of Secrets, George and Hermione landed in the kitchens at Hogwarts on the night of the last battle. Still holding her hands, George looked at Hermione and said "Well I guess we made it, one task down about a million to go!" He grinned. He was trying to stay upbeat with the knowledge that hopefully his twin would be returning soon, but he wasn't quite good enough at concealing his worry from his girlfriend.

"I know it'll be hard for you to be there when it happens, but know that I will be right here at midnight to meet you and then as soon as we get back we'll go get Fred. You know what happens during the battle, so just do your thing and try not to dwell on it. Take deep breaths and if you need to, my younger self will be there, so focus on me. I'll be watching the whole thing take place. You're going to get him back George, I promise. I never said it earlier, but I love you too, be careful." Hermione said while hugging him tight and kissing his cheek.

"I know you'll meet me, you're always there for me. I think seeing your memory of it will help, it won't be such a shock. I love you, now let's go and save the world." He winked at her and hugged her tight. Then they both transformed into their otter forms and exited the kitchens quickly, going different directions.

George scurried down the hall trying to locate the corridor he knew four of his brothers would be in (Harry was as much a brother as anyone else). He needed to cast the charm on Fred first and then quickly go find Snape. He ran along the walls, keeping in the shadows to remain unseen until he finally heard some familiar voices. His heart almost leaped out of his chest when he heard Fred's voice.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione we running down the hallway so he followed them and quickly hid behind a suit of armor when he could see his twin. He saw Fred and Percy fighting and knew that the moment would be soon so he hid behind a suit of armor that was closer to the battle and transformed back into a human. He quickly disillusioned himself and peaked out. He got his wand ready and when he heard Percy hand in his resignation he mentally told Fred he loved him. They had been able to communicate telepathically since they were young, hence the twin speak and awesome coordination of pranks. Fred told him he loved him too and George pointed his wand at him, focused on Fred's bravery and his love for him while swishing his wand and saying the incantation. An otter that looked like it had been disillusioned rushed at Fred and disappeared into his chest right as George transformed back into an otter and heard the earth shattering explosion that he knew killed his twin. He couldn't stand hearing the anguished cries of his brothers or seeing the horrified Hermione with tears cascading down her face while trying to hold Ron back from going after the death eaters.

Finally, a crying otter ran and made his way to the tunnel under the whomping willow. Hermione had explained the tunnel and its use and George was not only impressed by its use, but the fact that she knew who the marauders were and he had met two of them! He needed to be quick to beat Harry, Ron, and Mione to the Shrieking Shack, where he knew Snape would die.

He made it to the end of the passage and looked through the trapdoor. He could see the snake and Voldemort were looking out a window while talking and asking someone to get Snape.

Rascal slipped into the room and ran up the stairs quietly. He knew from Slick's memories that there was a hole in the floor upstairs from their adventure with Sirius in her third year. He transformed back into a human and laid Harry's invisibility cloak over the hole to keep anyone from seeing him through it. He knew that you could send charms through it if you were under it so it would give him cover. He had "borrowed" the cloak from Harry and would return it when his mischief was managed. This was, after all, a huge prank on all the death eaters and Voldemort, and it would bring back the marauders.

Snape finally showed up downstairs and Voldie had a great villain speech going. Knowing where to look, George could tell where Harry, Ron, and Hermione were. He focused on his respect for Snape and on Snape's bravery. He just couldn't muster up a feeling of love for the greasy git and didn't know of anyone that actually loved him. Respect is a type of love, so he hoped that would be good enough. He cast the charm and controlled the translucent otter, telling it to go down but wait until Voldie wasn't looking before going to Snape. Voldemort finally turned around to let Nagini out of the cage and the otter connected with Snape, causing his eyes to widen slightly before the snake bit him.

George waited until Harry left Snape's side to pack up the cloak and transform back into Rascal. He headed to the kitchens to meet Hermione while trying not to think of anything but his destination. Fred's death was starting to hit him again and he needed to get back to the correct time period before he broke down.

HPOV

Hermione knew that Remus and Tonks were killed out on the grounds so she ran as fast as her otter legs could go to find them. She had heard stories, but wasn't positive of where, when or how they died. She knew they'd be together and she knew that Dolohov and Bellatrix had killed them. Finally, she spotted Remus dueling with Dolohov. She sprinted across the grounds and into a bush close by. She wasn't sure how soon he would die so she concentrated on her love for him as a mentor, Harry's love for him as an uncle, and Teddy's love for him as a dad.

She cast the spell and her translucent otter ran over to him. She had asked it to wait until Remus was about to die since the charm only worked for a moment. Remus and Dolohov dueled while Hermione was looking for Tonks from her bush. She saw her otter dive into Remus's heart right before a killing curse hit him. As Remus fell, Hermione heard an anguished cry and saw Tonks battling Bellatrix.

Knowing that Bellatrix would strike quickly, Hermione concentrated on her love for Tonks like a big sister, Teddy's love for his mom, and Andromeda's love for her daughter. The otter flew out of her wand and went straight into her heart, beating Bella's killing curse by only a few seconds. Hermione was a little shaken that she had come so close to failing.

Knowing she had done all she could for Remus and Tonks, she transformed back into Slick and went to find little Colin Creevey, the boy-who-snuck-back-in.

As she was running in her otter form she saw Harry, Ron, and Hermione on their way to the Shrieking Shack and watched as Luna led the fight against the dementors for them when they couldn't conjure strong enough patronuses.

She finally found Colin fighting in the entrance hall. She looked around and found a place to hide behind a piece of wall that had fallen. She transformed back, disillusioned herself and cast her charm on him quickly, focusing on her friendship with him and his brother Dennis's love for him. She sent her otter over to him and had it wait till it knew he would be dying. She knew it was almost time because he was gone by the time they all met up in the Great Hall, which would be happening in the next half hour.

She waited patiently, proud of his fight and finally she saw it about to happen. He was defending Ginny while she headed out the front doors, while he blocked the curse headed for her; a death eater was cursing him. The translucent otter jumped into him before the curse connected and he fell.

Hermione knew her job was done so she turned back into Slick and left her hiding place in search of the kitchens and George. She was close to breaking but she knew that George would be broken after witnessing and not being able to stop his twin's death.

She met up with Rascal outside the kitchens and they transformed into people. George pulled out the invisibility cloak and they tickled the pear right as the portrait opened and dozens of house elves ran out with Kreacher in the lead. Going into the empty kitchen they held each others hands, concentrated on the Chamber of Secrets in their time and said the charm to return home.


	7. Chapter 7

**I don't own Harry Potter, that right belongs to JK Rowling. Enjoy the story, and if you don't please don't leave a mean comment. ****J**** Thanks for reading!**

As soon as they landed in the Chamber, Hermione looked at George and saw the first tear streak down his cheek. She pulled him into her arms and rubbed his back while he sobbed, he trusted her enough to let it all out. It broke her heart that he had to witness that, and after having to see Remus, Tonks, and Colin get murdered she cried silently right along with him.

He finally calmed down enough to pull away and wipe his eyes. He saw her face and reached up, gently wiping away her tears as well. He knew she would take seeing her friends' deaths to heart and that she needed comfort as well. The stood hugging for a few minutes before they both calmed down enough to speak.

George looked into her eyes and said "I promised to kiss you when we got back" and then proceeded to do just that. It was a kiss full of desperation, comfort, passion, and love all put together into a mind blowing experience.

Breathing hard, they both stopped and leaned into each other.

"What do you say now that we're calmed down we let Firefox know we're back and we head over to the DOM?" Hermione said.

George pulled out his mirror and called Firefox's name. He saw the tiny professor answer and let him know that they were back safely and had accomplished what they went to do. After letting him know they'd definitely be back by morning and would bring the rescuees back with them, they said goodbye and took the floo from the Chamber directly into the DOM in Firefox's office.

Pulling up their cloaks and hiding their faces, they headed to the Death Chamber. They locked and silenced the room thoroughly before continuing down the stairs toward the dais. The person that cast the first charm needed to be the same to bring the person out of the veil so they decided to try Snape first, both though that if it didn't work, they wouldn't be as disappointed if he didn't make it out.

George held up his wand and concentrated on Snape's bravery while he was dying. He said the incantation and waited a few moments. It took about 5 minutes of tense silence and speculation but soon enough the veil started fluttering and a body in black robes fell out and laid on the dais.

Rascal and Slick ran up to check the body and saw that it was Professor Snape only he was much younger, he looked to be about fifteen and he was looking at them drowsily. He tried to stand but seemed to be weak.

"Who are you! Answer me! Where the bloody hell am I?" Snape yelled at them. It seemed as though he was trying to be menacing but seeing him as a teenager was so disconcerting to Rascal and Slick that they almost started laughing.

"Bloody hell Slick! It worked! Snape do you remember anything?"

Slick and Rascal were both beaming at each other and almost jumping up and down to have solved this mystery and have someone back. Even if it was one of their least favorite people.

"I was in the Shrieking Shack and the Dark Lord had his snake bite me, the last thing I remember is seeing the idiot Harry Potter trying to save me." Rascal and Slick were glad that he remembered, this meant his mind was still the thirty-something it should be. He would be given a true second chance at life. They looked at each other and together shot a stunner at him and made sure he was comfortable. They needed to get everyone out and then get them back before answering any questions and he was about the start yelling.

Once he was settled, Rascal and Slick kissed passionately before they broke apart and Rascal said "What should we do next Slick?" and she said "Try to save the world Rascal."

They decided to get Colin out next, then Remus and Tonks, saving Fred for last since he was the most emotional save.

Colin came out more quickly than Snape had and after they identified that he was truly Colin, they stunned him and cast the charm for Tonks. They knew she would be more alert, being an auror she would react much the same way as Snape. Plus if she was truly herself she would be worried about Remus and Teddy.

Tonks came quickly like Colin and instead of lying groggily on the floor; she instantly stood up and demanded an explanation. For once they thought they saw her in her true form. Her face looked the same, but she had black curly hair, much like Andromeda's, and striking grey eyes that would remind anyone of Sirius. She looked to be about the same age as when she was killed, somewhere in her twenties. They expected that since she was married and had just had her son.

She quickly turned her hair pink and that was all the verification they needed before Rascal and Slick stunned her too. Next was Remus and he took as long as Snape to get out. They weren't surprised to see him in his early twenties, he had been happiest with Sirius, James, and Lily after Harry was born. He was now interestingly enough, around Tonks's age. What did shock them was that he was almost unconscious on his own. He muttered something about werewolves and then passed out on his own. Casting a quick diagnostic spell, Slick made sure he was ok. It took a minute but she realized that her diagnostic charm didn't show his lycanthropy like it should.

She looked at Rascal and beamed. She hoped she was right. "Rascal, I think the veil cured Remus's lycanthropy! It's not showing up on my diagnostic charm and now that I'm thinking about it, it makes perfect sense. His curse was in his body and since he's in a new version, it didn't transfer over. It's not like it was something he was happy with. He'll be so happy when he wakes up! Ok now, let's get your twin back." She said smiling happily at him.

Rascal took a deep breath and concentrated hard, he didn't want to mess this one up. He said the incantation and quickly a body tumbled out.

Fred looked up and even though their faces were disguised he looked at Rascal and said "Forge? Whas goin on?" He was still groggy and trying to comprehend what had happened.

Rascal was standing there with tears rolling down his cheeks and ran over to his brother. He knew that Fred would know who he was even in disguise. He pulled Fred up and hugged him tight. Miraculously, they still looked the same age, it was like the veil and the charm knew that Fred would be happiest the same as his twin, even if he was younger when he died.

Hugging him and whispering his name, Rascal finally started laughing and said "Bloody hell Gred, you still look just like me! God I missed you! We need to get out of here though, so just stay with me and… Slick over there." Slick smiled at him with tears falling down her cheeks as well. George would deal with his emotions later, he had his brother back and he needed to just get the rest of this mission over with for tonight.

They gathered the stunned people and went back to Firefox's office. Since Fred was calm and trusted his brother with everything, he wasn't stunned and could help them transport the others back. Slick took Tonks and Colin since they were all smaller, Fred followed with Remus, and Rascal took Snape last.

Coming out of the floo into the Chamber of Secrets had Fred confused. He knew where he was going since he had to say his destination to activate the floo, but he wasn't sure why they would go down there. He set Remus down and then noticed that he looked younger, as did Snape when George came through. Now he was really confused.

"Uh guys? I'm confused…" He still wasn't sure who the mysterious Slick was.

"Hey Rascal I think we could take off our disguises now. We're gonna need to show them who we are so they trust us."

"Right you are Slick." Fred was wondering why Slick was calling George "Rascal" but thought they'd probably explain, so he sat down and watched as they removed their outer robes and cast a spell to cancel their altered appearances. He was shocked to say the least.

"Hermione? What? Bloody hell I'm confused!" Fred was glad he was sitting down. George looked older, Hermione was here, they were in the Chamber of Secrets with a stunned Remus, Tonks, Colin Creevey, and was that Snape?

"It's ok Fred, we just need to make a call and then hopefully we can explain everything to you." Hermione said while pulling her mirror out of her pocket and walking away. George was standing there beaming at his twin, he just couldn't look away.

"You know Fred, you should look younger than me now, but somehow we're awesome and we still look the same, it's like a prank on the universe." George said smiling. He was having trouble not just jumping into his explanation, but it would be easier to share the story with everyone at once.

Hermione walked back and said that Firefox gave them permission to tell the right story, but asked that the ones that were rescued make an oath to not share any of the info they received except with each other.

Hermione walked over to where Remus was and cast an enervate at him. She thought she'd be able to convince him the easiest of who they were. Remus opened his eyes and saw that he was in a strange place. He jumped up and then saw the Weasley twins and Hermione, although they all looked a little older.

He looked at Hermione and asked "What did I offer Harry at headquarters?"

"You said that we would encounter types of magic beyond anything we'd ever seen and that you would make three become four and we could not tell you our plans but you could help us. You wanted to do that because you were afraid of Tonks's pregnancy." Hermione answered quickly. Nobody but her, Ron, and Harry would know that.

He still seemed a bit skeptical so asked one more question of her. "What was your real boggart in third year and what did you say it was?"

"I said it was McGonagall telling me I failed everything, but it was really Harry and Ron being killed while I couldn't help them." He was satisfied with that answer and had seen George's missing ear so he decided to stop and listen to their story before judging anything.

"Where are we?" As he looked around he saw his wife and ran over to her.

"Ennervate her now!" Hermione asked him to stand back a bit because he looked a little different and she didn't want Tonks to get freaked out. She assured Remus that Tonks had just been stunned and was absolutely fine before insisting he go look in a mirror. When he did, he was totally confused at what he saw, but he still wanted to see his wife awake.

Hermione cast the charm to wake her up and Tonks immediately jumped up started yelling.

"Where the bloody hell am I?" She then took a second to actually look around and saw Hermione, Fred, George, and a much younger version of her husband.

"What?" She said faintly while swaying. She had seen him get killed and knew that she had been cursed as well. Did all the others die as well? She decided to make sure it was him and that everyone else was who they looked like.

"Remus?" He nodded.

"What did you tell me when you came back to me before Teddy was born?"

Remus took a deep breath and smiled at her. "I said, I'm so sorry baby, I've been a right git about everything. I AM excited to be a daddy; I'm just so scared he's gonna be a werewolf like me. I would hate to pass that on. I talked to Harry and he knows your pregnant, he's extremely mad at me and I think I know who we should name godfather. He'd be perfect. Will you forgive me sometime in the next century for being the thickest, prat ever to walk the planet?"

She smiled, he was right. She just wanted to hear him say it again.

She turned to Hermione. "What did I send to you in your fifth year?"

Hermione smiled at the memory and removed the picture from her pocket. "You sent me this picture and said to always keep it with me to remember how happy we could be. It's a picture of you, me and Ginny laughing together while Sirius and Remus told some stories, Fred and George planning a prank, and Ron and Harry laughing about Harry's horrible chess skills." She showed her the picture and Tonks knew she wasn't lying, the fact that she had it on her proved the point immediately.

Turning to Fred and George she said "When was the first time we met?"

They started giggling and said "Our first year we pranked Charlie and got you instead, so you had little dragons flying all over your skin because your metamorph powers absorbed the prank. Charlie couldn't stop laughing and you said 'You better start running boys…' and tripped when you started to come after us. You caught us because we fell down laughing and you charmed our hair Hufflepuff colors and made our robes flash 'Tonks is our master'" Everyone was laughing at the end of the explanation.

"Ok ok I believe you all, now what's going on and why does my husband look my age? Not that I'm complaining babe, you're gorgeous, but I'm confused." Remus blushed at the praise and went to hug his wife, who was eyeing him hungrily.

"Ok first off, we have a long explanation ahead of us before we can send you off to your room, so hold off on the lusty looks ok? Also, before you ask, cause I can see it in your eyes now that you know you're safe, Teddy is fine, he's with Harry and he misses you. Next, I want to tell you this before we wake the other two. Remus, I ran a diagnostic charm on you when you passed out earlier, and it didn't show your lycanthropy, I think you're cured!"

Remus's jaw dropped open and he pointed his wand at himself, muttering a different diagnostic spell, when he saw the lack of lycanthropy he looked up with tears in his eyes and smiled at Tonks. She was crying and threw her arms around him and kissed him passionately for a few moments.

They finally broke apart and looked at the three standing there, thanking them profusely for whatever they did. Fred denied helping, and George and Hermione said they'd explain later.

They woke up Colin next and had no problems, Hermione knew what he was doing when he was petrified in his first year and when he mastered the patronus charm so that was good enough for him.

Snape was a different matter. They woke him up and jumped back as he started yelling again. He finally looked up and saw Remus.

"YOU! What the hell is going on here? Why do you look so young all of a sudden! I was dead, what happened?"

Hermione just looked at George and decided to start the explanation.

"EVERYBODY LISTEN UP! IF YOU SHUT UP WE'LL EXPLAIN EVERYTHING"

George yelled above the ruckus Snape was making. He received a glare in return but Snape quieted down and waited for answers.

"Thanks George. As you can all see we look older now it's been 2 years since you all died. We're both Unspeakables and have been working on the veil of death. It's actually called the Archway of Truths, but we'll ask you what you saw after you died, later. Basically we, George and I, went back in time to the last battle and cast a charm on all of you right before you died." Snape's eyes lit up with understanding as did Fred's. They weren't killed with a spell so they had felt it when the otters hit them.

"Basically, the charm protected your souls and sent them to the Chamber of Truths. Only you guys know what you saw back there, but it helped us get you back out. We configured the return charm to give you back a body; the one you got was a duplicate of when you were the happiest. In Remus's case I think it probably chose the younger of his two happiest moments. I know he was happiest with the other marauders and when Teddy was born. This worked out best for him. Fred somehow knew he would be happiest to still look like my twin, so he actually aged to match me." George said happily.

They spent the next few hours explaining everything and finally Colin spoke up.

"So… where exactly are we? And where are our families?"

"We're in the Chamber of Secrets at Hogwarts. Don't worry, Harry killed the Basilisk years ago so it's safe and very secure down here. Only we can come down here. As for your families, Colin, I know that Dennis is a seventh year here and I think the rest of your family is fine, I already told you how Teddy was, Remus and Tonks, and Andy is doing fine as well, she misses you terribly still, Fred, George will give you an in depth update on your family, and Snape do you want to know about anyone?"

He shook his head no.

"Alright then, there are rooms down here, I'm sorry but we're gonna have to keep you down here till we rescue the rest of the people we're saving. Our boss has to come up with a good cover story so that everyone doesn't try to retrieve lost loved ones. Remus and Tonks, your room is over there, Mione will be in in a few minutes if you want to get a better update on Harry and Teddy, Colin you're over there, Snape the last door on the right, and Fred, you'll be sharing with me, I hope you don't mind." George said cheekily.

Everyone went off to their rooms and Colin and Snape went straight to sleep. Remus and Tonks snogged a bit and Fred hugged Hermione and whispered in her ear.

"Thanks for taking care of him Mione. And for bringing me back to him." Fred knew they loved each other and he would be forever thankful for her help in getting his twin back to himself and of course for bringing Fred back to the land of the living.

"I love you too Fred, I promise I'll always be there for both of you. Now go catch up with your brother and let him cry over you. He's been strong, but he saw you die a few hours ago and only you can really comfort him over that." Hermione stood on her toes and kissed his cheek. Then turned to George.

"Love, go catch up with Fred, I love you, let me know if you need anything ok? I have my mirror and I'll be in my room. I'm so happy you got him back." She said smiling up at him and giving him a huge hug. They kissed and then the boys went to their room.

Hermione knocked on the Lupins' door and went in when they called out to her.


	8. Chapter 8

**I don't own Harry Potter, that right belongs to JK Rowling. Enjoy the story, and if you don't please don't leave a mean comment. ****J**** Thanks for reading! **

**Also, thanks so much for your reviews! They're very encouraging and make me happy!**

Walking into their room, Hermione couldn't have been happier to see Remus and Tonks sitting on the bed in pajamas. Tonks was sitting between his legs and he had his arms wrapped around her, whispering in her ear and kissing her temple.

Tonks looked up and smiled before jumping off the bed and hugging Hermione. Hermione was a strong person, but seeing them again broke the little bit of control she had left. She tightened her hold on Tonks and started sobbing uncontrollably; she had always looked up to Tonks as a big sister and never got to say goodbye, and now she was back! And Remus was not only a mentor but a good friend that she had shared many late night conversations with at Grimmauld Place.

Remus saw Hermione's reaction and got up from his place on the bed, wrapping his arms around the two young women.

"Shhh Mione, it's ok. We're here, I know it's overwhelming, but we're here and we're safe, shhh sweetheart don't cry…" Remus comforted her while Tonks extracted herself and went over to the bed. Remus had seen Hermione as a friend and a niece before, but with their ages now, she could be more like a little sister and he was perfectly fine with that and would comfort her accordingly. He knew she felt the same about him and that her and Tonks had been close as well.

After Dora dried her own tears, she motioned Remus to bring Hermione over to the bed to join her. He lifted the sobbing girl up and was surprised but excited that he retained his exceptional strength, hearing, and smell from his curse. He sat down with Hermione in his arms and let her cry her heart out while Tonks rubbed her back, both speaking comforting words to try and calm her down.

Finally calm enough to speak she said "I'm s-sorry! I'm just so overwhelmed, today has been so much… first I figured out what the veil did and worked out how to get you back, then we went back in time and I put the charm on you and watched you die a few hours ago, and now you're here! I couldn't stop you from dying in the first place and it broke my heart all over again. I was finally getting used to the idea that you were actually gone and now I have my big sister back and Remus, will you be my biog brother? Please?"

Remus shot a brilliant smile at her "I'd be honored to have you as a little sister, we love you Mione and now that you've saved us we want to ask you something we meant to ask before, but we didn't really get a chance to see you..."

He looked at Tonks, who continued "We wanted to ask before, like Remus said, but, will you be Teddy's godmother?"

Some more tears leaked out as Hermione smiled at them "I would love to! I've been helping Harry and Andromeda with him and he calls me Auntie Mya, I already love the little cub." Remus smiled at the name, he had called Teddy his cub before…

"Oh my gosh, Teddy, Harry, and Andie will be so happy to see you!" Hermione said, she wished she could let them reunite tonight, but they needed to get the others back first.

Tonks and Remus both hugged her and whispered "Mione, we can never thank you enough for giving us this chance to live our lives with our son, and thank you so much for looking after him, and Harry and Mum."

Tonks continued "I know you've had a long and emotional day, how long have you been up? But could you please tell us more about Teddy since we can't see him yet? We understand why, it's just hard to be back and not be able to see him yet…" She trailed off hoping Hermione would provide them with some desperately wanted information about their son.

Hermione nodded sleepily and leaned back on the pillows. She looked up at Remus and Tonks and started to tell them more about their baby.

"Well, he loves his hair to be turquoise, but sometimes he looks like a mini Remus or a mini Harry depending on his mood. Usually if he wants Harry to do something for him or he's feeling extra clingy he'll look like Harry. He absolutely knows who you are and misses you. He's just over two now and lives with your mum most of the time. Harry takes him a few days a week, but with him being so young and Harry being named head auror, Harry thought it would be best for him to have your mum around more. Um let me think, OH! Harry goes over every night, even when he's working, to read him a bedtime story or tell him a story about you or the marauders." She started laughing.

"One of Teddy's favorite stories is about how you, Tonks, ALWAYS trip over the troll leg umbrella stand in Grimmauld Place. Harry updated it and it looks nothing like it used to. I think it helped him finally grieve over everyone he's lost. Anyways, he gutted it my hand, without magic, and finally did the renovations about a year ago. Now it's bright and homey with no dark artifacts anywhere. He's staying there for now and every time Teddy toddles past the umbrella stand, he kicks the troll foot and flings himself in the floor giggling. Harry thinks it's hilarious and always tickles him and tells him about you afterwards."

Tonks and Remus were smiling at the antics of their son and wishing that they could see him. Remus spoke up with some other things they wanted to know.

"How is Harry really doing? And Andie? Did Teddy inherit my curse? And who else are we waiting for until we can leave?" There, he thought, that should cover just about everything.

Hermione took a deep breath, getting ready to answer. These were a bit harder answers, but they deserved to know. "Ok, we'll start with the easiest question and the one you want to know the most. Teddy has extra good hearing and smell and is a bit strong for his age, but he definitely doesn't transform. He's sometimes a bit grumpier around the full moon and he absolutely loves chocolate. I have a theory that I think you both will be wolf animaguses if you want to be an animagus. He's a beautiful kid and is mostly healthy. If he's ever sick, Harry sits by his bed and spends the night at Andie's house. On to the next question. Andie is doing remarkably well considering she lost her husband and daughter and son in law in the course of a few months. She loves Teddy with all her heart, but I know she misses you. Sometimes if he does something that really reminds her of you, she'll take him over to Harry or bring him to me so she can grieve without him knowing. She's smiling again, but she isn't truly happy most of the time."

Tonks was crying, she knew her mum would take her death hard, especially since her dad had just died, she was glad Hermione was giving the full story.

"On the other hand, she's back into the Black family, Harry, being the heir that Sirius named, brought her back into the family and disowned everyone that was a death eater, although most are dead already anyways. He post-humously let you into the family Tonks, so you're both Blacks now, as is Teddy. Good thing he took down the tapestry at Grimmauld, you probably would have shown back up on it today and he'd know something was up. Oh, and Andie doesn't know who killed you. She knows Bellatrix killed Sirius, but she doesn't know that she killed you too Tonks. I didn't think she could handle the idea that her own sister killed her daughter." Tonks nodded her agreement and thanks.

"Now, onto Harry. You both know how he handles loss. You saw him after Sirius. I'll wait till we get everyone back to tell you the whole story of the final battle, but he saw way too much and blamed himself for a lot of it. I know he still blames himself for your deaths as well as Fred's, but he's trying to move on with his life. We get together about once a week to talk and I've tried to help him talk through everything.

He's actually accepted me into the Potter family, he said it was too much pressure being the only heir to the Blacks and the Potters, and I don't have any family left. My parents chose to continue their lives as Wendell and Monica Wilkins in Australia after I did the memory charm on them before we left seventh year. I went to find them and explained the situation and they decided that if their daughter could wipe their memories then they didn't want anything to do with me. So now I'm officially Harry's sister, I still go by Hermione Granger, but I suppose on records it would show I'm Hermione Potter now. I didn't want anyone thinking we got married so I don't use that name.

Anyways, back to Harry. Right after the final battle he started working at Grimmauld Place. Like I said before, I think it helped him grieve. Ron and I helped as much as we could, but we were both dealing with our own losses as well. Harry is by far the happiest when he is with Teddy or Ginny. They're together now, he actually proposed a few months ago! Anyways, Kingsley was named the new minister and because so many aurors died in the last few years, he didn't have anyone with enough leadership or skill to take hold of the auror forces, so he called Harry to be head auror. He went through the basic training and then accepted the job, although I think he'd rather be the DADA teacher at Hogwarts. He just needs to get the aurors back on their feet and I think he'll leave. He's finally really getting the spark back in his eyes, but he still has down days where he really misses Sirius, his parents, you guys, Fred. When Harry loves, it's with his whole heart, so loss is very hard for him."

Tonks and Remus nodded, knowing that was true and absorbing all the info Hermione had given them. It sounded like everything was going well for their loved ones.

"What about you Mione? I know how you are emotionally, but what are you doing now?"

"Well George and I are dating, we're both Unspeakables, and our cover stories are that I am the muggle studies teacher and George is the flying instructor here at Hogwarts. We teach our classes and then come down here to do our research. We both love it and wouldn't change anything, although I think we'll be telling Harry the whole story in a few days once we get everyone back." Hermione said with a smile.

Remus laughed, he knew Harry and it didn't surprise him that his friend would figure out something was going on with Hermione and George.

"Oh yeah, you wanted to know who we're bringing back. I actually need your help with it a bit, so here's the list of who we still need to get. Amelia Bones is next, then Sirius, Cedric, Regulus (I'll explain in a minute), Sky Lovegood (Luna's mum), James and Lily, and Fabian and Gideon Prewett. I'll need your help with Sirius, I can't ask Harry to relive that memory and we need to know what curse Bellatrix hit him with before he fell into the veil. It'll affect our charms if he was alive at the time or dead. I just need a copy of your memory so I can see it in a pensieve. As for Regulus, he was on the light side at the end. He helped destroy Voldemort before he died so we thought he could have a second chance at life, just like Snape." Hermione yawned and Tonks and Remus thought about everything they'd heard and seen that day.

After a few minutes of silence Remus asked "How long have you been awake sweetheart? You should probably get to bed." When he didn't get an answer from Hermione, him and Tonks looked at each other and over to their little sister. She was only 2 years younger than them now, and was sleeping in the middle of their bed.

"She must have been exhausted; I wonder how long she's been awake for?" Tonks said before there was a light knock on the door.

Remus got up and opened it to find George there with red eyes. He knew his reunion with Fred had probably been harder than theirs with Hermione.

"Is Mione still in here? She wasn't in her bed and we've been up for about 30 hours now…" George trailed off while Remus ushered him in quietly. He took a look at the bed and smiled when he saw Hermione sleeping. He went over and kissed Tonks on the cheek and gave Remus a hug.

"She's missed you both terribly, I'm glad you're back. She needs you in her life even if she doesn't show it. Nobody really knew how close you all were, but I could see it in her eyes every time she saw a picture of you. I'll get her to her bed, sleep tight, we'll try to get you back with Teddy as quickly as we can." George said quietly to the pair. He gently scooped his girlfriend into his arms and walked across the room bidding them good night and sweet dreams. She curled closer to him and let out a contented sigh.

"You know, I think they're perfect together." Remus said looking at Tonks, and she had to agree.


	9. Chapter 9

**I don't own Harry Potter, that right belongs to JK Rowling. Enjoy the story, and if you don't please don't leave a mean comment. ****J**** Thanks for reading!**

**If you notice anything wrong with the returned characters ages or age gaps with other characters, I either didn't mean to do it, or it just works better the way I wrote it. Just go with it ;)**

While Hermione was in talking to Remus and Tonks, George and Fred were in George's room having their own reunion.

"So the bookworm huh? How did Miss Mione worm her way into your heart?" He knew it was lame, but Fred needed to tell a joke to get George to loosen up a bit.

Fred didn't get his desired effect though; George looked up at him and hugged him tighter than their mum could hug. He held onto his twin and kept saying Fred's name and repeating "You're here, you're really here, you're back, Merlin I missed you Fred!" With tears running down his face.

Once he convinced himself that Fred was real, he explained what he and Hermione had done that day. Fred was shocked to say the least.

"You mean, you watched me die not more than a few hours ago? And you couldn't stop it from happening, oh my gosh, I heard you say you loved me right before it happened. That was the you from today wasn't it? Merlin Forge, I'm so sorry, come here, are you ok? Really?" He realized the overwhelming feelings that his twin must have been feeling. He lost his other half two years ago and then today he saw him, watched him die, and then got him back.

"I'm sorry; I'll never leave you like that again. How did you do it? I don't know what I'd do without you." Fred was still feeling a bit gobsmacked, George had been alone for two years; something Fred couldn't even think about without freaking out.

"I knew you would want me to live, so Ginny and Bill are running the joke shop, it took me awhile to be somewhat normal again, I didn't talk for awhile and after I did I struggled a lot because you weren't there to finish my thoughts. Then I got the letter to become an Unspeakable and found out that Mione was my partner. We've been working really hard together and we talk a lot. We are also the flying instructor and muggle studies professors at Hogwarts to have a cover story. I was still only a shadow of who I used to be, but with Mione I felt alive again at least. I love her Gred, I know you already know that, but I have to say it. She's amazing and I never would have thought about it, but she's helped me so much, and I've helped her too.

I lost you, and she lost Remus and Tonks and her parents. She was practically Tonks' little sister and she really looked up to Remus. Her parents basically disowned her when she found them after the war; they couldn't forgive her for placing the memory charm on them. Harry adopted her into the Potter family as his sister, but we can talk about anything. I know she loves you too, she was really broken up about your death, but even right after the battle, she stayed with me and helped me out."

Fred was so proud of Hermione, and heart-broken for her as well. He couldn't imagine his parents disowning him.

"How is everyone else, what is everyone doing now?" Fred asked, he was really tired, but he knew his brother needed to see him and talk to him for a little longer to calm his emotions and really accept that his twin was back.

"Ok well, mum and dad are fine; dad is the deputy minister to Kingsley. Bill and Fleur are pregnant with a little girl that is due anytime, Percy is back with the family and is engaged to a nice girl named Audrey, he's also the potions master here at Hogwarts. It works well with his personality because you can't go making mistakes in the potions lab, so his love of rules really carries over well. Charlie is still with his dragons, I don't think he'll ever get sick of them… um lets see, Ron is keeper for the Cannons, who are doing a bit better now, and Harry is head auror. As for our friends, Lee is a quidditch announcer, Katie is a marketer for Puddlemere United, Angie and Alicia are running the Quality Quidditch Supplies shop in Hogsmeade, Luna writes for the Quibbler, and Neville is teaching herbology here at the school.

Ginny and Harry are back together, he actually proposed a few months back so he's really our brother now. Everyone was torn up over you and kept looking at me like they wanted me to be you, it hurt, but they're all ok. We never would have forgotten you, but we had to keep living so you didn't die for nothing. I'm glad you're back now, you're my other half besides Mione and everyone will be so much happier to have you in our lives."

Fred was touched and excited by the things he had heard his family was up to. He decided they could finish catching up tomorrow; they're guys, twins that can know each others thoughts without trying, so they already said all of the unspoken things that needed to be said without being emotional little girls about it.

"I'm glad you have Mione brother mine, but you look like you're exhausted and I promise I'm not going anywhere, why don't we go to bed?" George nodded and said he needed to go make sure Hermione went to bed too; she was so stubborn she'd probably be up all night again trying to catch up with the Lupins.

George hugged Fred and said "Goodnight Gred, I love you, I'm so glad you're back" and after Fred said goodnight to him, he went in search of his girlfriend.

He opened the door to her room and found it empty, so he assumed she'd still be in with the Lupins. He walked over to their door and knocked quietly in case anyone had fallen asleep. Once Remus opened the door and quietly ushered him in, he saw Hermione sound asleep on their bed.

After a whispered conversation with Remus and Tonks, George gently picked up his love and held her tight, walking back to his room. He needed to be near Fred and Hermione tonight.

"Love, do you want to sleep in my bed tonight? I need to have you in my arms, I promise not to try anything…" He said quietly in her ear, kissing her temple as he trailed off.

"Yeah, I'd really like that. I need to be near you tonight too. Just hold me?" Mione said softly, half awake but looking up at him.

"As you wish baby" Hermione smiled and thought she remembered that quote from somewhere, but her mind would only provide a picture of a man yelling something about Inigo Montoya… oh well.

George settled Hermione into his bed and saw that Fred was already asleep. He transfigured Hermione's clothes into pajamas and changed into his pajamas and scooted under the covers. He kissed Hermione goodnight, pulled her back into his arms, and held her tight as he fell asleep to the comfort of knowing he had his twin back and he had his love in his arms.

Hermione smiled as she fell back asleep. All of the overwhelming emotions she'd been feeling calmed down the second George pulled her to him. With her back to his front and his arms tight around her, Hermione finally relaxed and fell asleep.


	10. Chapter 10

**I don't own Harry Potter, that right belongs to JK Rowling. Enjoy the story, and if you don't please don't leave a mean comment. ****J**** Thanks for reading!**

**Ok enough reunions, lets get the other characters back! Harry needs a family!**

The next morning, everyone got up and had some breakfast. George and Hermione had to go to the Great Hall for breakfast since they were teachers, but everyone else stayed in the Chamber and a house elf served them.

As it was Monday, both George and Hermione had to teach classes, so they brought a bunch of Quibblers down to the group and let them catch up on the past two years events. The Quibbler is the believable paper now, the Daily Prophet was a rag.

Classes were alright for George and Hermione. Teaching helped them focus on a normal day and get ready for their next missions. They ate lunch with Percy and Neville and nodded to Flitwick, indicating that everything was good and they would continue with their plans.

After their last classes for the day, they headed back down to the Chamber. George had gone to Hogsmeade and brought everyone some butterbeer to make up for having to be stuck for a little longer.

It seemed like everyone was getting along. Hermione thought that Snape was probably going to use his second chance at life to have the life he actually wanted. She knew Colin just wanted to get back to his family, and Remus and Tonks were patiently waiting to see their son.

Hermione brought pictures of Teddy for Tonks and Remus, as well as some interesting books and Quibblers, everyone else had found good books to read or things to do on their own. After showing them the pictures, Hermione asked Remus for the memory from the Department of Mysteries when Sirius died. They were going to try to retrieve Amelia Bones and Sirius tonight but needed to do a bit more planning. They knew that Amelia Bones was at her house and ambushed by a lot of Death Eaters, but she need the one little fact before she could plan Sirius's rescue.

Remus thought hard and handed his memory over to George and Hermione. They went over to a pensieve and went right into the memory. When they came out a few minutes later, both were beaming.

"What did you find out? Was he dead at the time he fell through?" Remus really wanted to know. That had been one of the hardest days of his life and he'd had a fair few hard days.

"He was still alive, just stunned. We'll have to reconfigure the charm to save him, but it'll be a bit easier than what we did for you guys. He already has his body, so we'll just be altering it to return his body to his younger self, as I'm sure he was happiest around your age when Lily and James were alive. We've already got the charm worked out for that scenario." Hermione smiled at him.

Both Unspeakables walked over to a secluded corner and called Firefox to let him know that they would be attempting to bring back Amelia and Sirius. Once they had Sirius back, they could get Cedric, because Harry had only really spoken in depth about the night in the graveyard with Sirius and Dumbledore.

Firefox gave them the green light and told them to let him know when they got back. They got their Unspeakable cloaks, Harry's invisibility cloak, and put on their charms to mask their appearances. Everyone was astounded by the power these two showed when in uniform and watched in awe as they held hands and said an incantation, disappearing from thin air without a sound.

Hermione and George appeared in Amelia Bones' backyard on the night of her death. They knew that death eaters would attack and that the doors to the room she was in would be locked from the inside. They transformed into Slick and Rascal and went in through a back window, thanking their lucky stars that most wards wouldn't alert the owner to an animal.

Once in the house, they stayed in the shadows and explored a bit. This was Bones Manor, so it was huge. They passed what must have been Susan's room at the time, and finally located Madame Bones in the sitting room. George waited by a window as a lookout to alert Hermione to when the death eaters approached, while Hermione ducked behind a tapestry, transformed into a person, focused on Susan's love for her aunt, and cast the charm. Again, the translucent otter was to wait until she lost the battle before entering Amelia's heart. Hermione quickly changed back into Slick, there were no distractions here and it wouldn't do for Madame Bones to see her.

A few moments later, Slick was standing close to Rascal and they saw the Death Eaters arrive. Knowing they couldn't stop this event, they made sure to be well hidden but in view of the translucent otter.

Hiding behind a bookcase behind the couch, they could still see what was happening. They could see the second Amelia knew that her wards were breached, she jumped up and grabbed her wand. There were anti-apparation wards set up, her floo was blocked, and they cancelled out her emergency portkey somehow.

Resigned to her fate, they could see the steely determination in her eyes as Madame Bones decided to take as many people down with her as possible.

It was a gruesome fight and it got ugly quickly. Many death eaters lost their lives in the fight, but as soon as they fell they were portkeyed away. It seemed like Voldemort knew he didn't want to leave any evidence of who had done the killing there.

Finally, Amelia started slowing down and Rookwood was battling as hard as he could. Having taken down so many opponents already, Amelia was getting tired and Rookwood's fight had just begun. He by-passed her shields and ducked a hex she sent him, firing off his own cutting curse at the same time. Before the cutting curse hit her, Hermione's charm ran to her and jumped into her heart. The cutting curse killed her almost instantly and Rookwood grabbed the last unconscious death eater and disapparated.

Slick and Rascal looked at each other and were shocked at what they had just witnessed, it was a gruesome fight and they knew that Madame Bones had taken down at least seven death eaters before she was struck down. Since nobody was left, they exited again through the same window they entered from and traveled back to the Chamber of Secrets in their time.

The people in the Chamber were waiting for their return and Tonks and Fred came over and hugged them as soon as they returned.

"Where did you go? You just disappeared over an hour ago and then just pop right back in here? Who did you go save?" Tonks asked.

"We were at Bones Manor casting the charm on Amelia Bones. It was a gruesome fight that we'd really rather not talk about. We need to get ready to go save Sirius, sorry we don't really have much time to chat. We'll talk more later after our missions for tonight are through." George said, knowing that Hermione was still a bit in shock from what they had just witnessed.

George steered Hermione into her room and turned her around to look at him.

"Mione, it's ok. I know that was horrible to watch, but she was a very brave woman and she fought her heart out. We'll get her back and reunite her and Susan ok? Take deep breaths baby, we're ok." He said while holding her close and stroking her hair. He felt her take a deep breath and relax a bit.

She looked up and said "What would I do without you?" while smiling at him. She tilted her head up and gave him a loving kiss before speaking again. "Let's go save wonderdog."

George laughed and they got their stuff together for the next mission and left Hermione's room. They bid farewell to the others and disappeared again, this time to wishes of good luck.

They had chosen Mr. Weasley's office at the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts office as the place to go to, since they knew nobody would be in there and could both picture it easily. Once they reappeared in 1995, they pulled Harry's invisibility cloak over themselves and Hermione got on George's back. This way, they would both fit under the cloak without their feet showing. Since Hermione was so petite, it was easy for George to support her weight.

They quickly made their way down to the DOM and through the doors, it was easier for Hermione this time around because she was familiar with the layout of the department. She heard shouting and thought that Harry and the others must have met back up. She would be unconscious by now, so they needed to get to the Death Chamber before they missed their chance.

George was on the same page, so headed toward Firefox's office and went through the door to the right of Firefox's. This led straight to the Death Chamber and it was lucky the door was hidden because it sounded like Harry and Neville were locking all the other doors.

A few minutes later the Order had shown up and George got his wand ready. Him and Hermione stayed toward the top of the room and watched Sirius's progress, they knew he would die fighting Bellatrix. When he got closer to the dais with the archway, George focused on his love for Sirius as a friend and marauder, but mostly on Harry's love for Sirius as a friend, father figure, and godfather. He shot his translucent otter out and it made a beeline for Sirius, they heard Sirius laugh and taunt Bellatrix right before the otter connected with his chest right before the red streak of the stunner hit him and pushed him into the veil.

This was where Remus's memory cut off, and they couldn't help but watch and listen to Harry's desperate cries for Sirius. The look on Remus's face was one of pure anguish and Harry sounded completely heartbroken. It was then that they looked at each other and left through the doorway they entered from. They entered Firefox's office and took off the cloak.

They hugged tight; it was hard hearing Harry's reaction, but silently they both agreed to get back to their time and get him back so they could take away Harry's pain. Holding hands, they travelled back to their time in Firefox's office. They decided to retrieve Amelia and Sirius as soon as possible, it was still quite early and they might be able to get Cedric tonight as well.

Running together into the Death Chamber, Hermione focused on Amelia's bravery and cast the return charm, waiting only a few minutes to see her fall out of the veil. She looked a few years younger than before, but not much. Hermione verified her identity and showed her their Unspeakable identification to calm her. Madame Bones knew what she was looking at was valid so trusted the two strangers to explain when they could.

Slick turned to her and said "Madame Bones, we will be retrieving Sirius Black in a moment, please don't be alarmed. He is completely innocent of all crimes that he was accused of so just trust us till we can give you a better explanation." Amelia nodded and waited for them to continue. She suddenly couldn't make out what they were saying though.

Hermione looked at George and winked, telling him to cast a silencing charm around their rescuee so she couldn't hear the retrieval spell.

Once he did that, he focused on Sirius Black's bravery and everyone's love for him, almost immediately they were rewarded with a much younger Sirius Black. He looked to be the same age as Remus, but still had the shadows behind his eyes that he had acquired in Azkaban.

He immediately stood up and demanded to see Harry. Hermione pulled down her hood and removed her charm so he could see who she was.

"Ok Sirius, what did you give Harry for Christmas in our fifth year and did he ever use it?"

"I gave him my mirror like the ones James and I used to have. We could talk through them if he said my name. He never used it, I don't know if he ever even opened it." Hermione nodded.

"Ok my turn, what did you use to rescue me in your third year and where did you take me once you had me out?" He asked, he was pretty sure this was Hermione Granger, but he didn't want to make any mistakes. He knew he died and was a little confused on why he was back.

"Haha, Harry and I used a timeturner to go back and rescue you and Buckbeak. We opened Flitwick's window and flew up to the astronomy tower on Buckbeak. You told me I was the brightest witch of my age and told Harry that he looked like his dad but he had his mum's eyes. Now, if you believe me, we need to get back to our headquarters and debrief you. I think you'll find some familiar faces there." She smiled at him knowing he would follow without protest.

George took Amelia's hand and led her to Firefox's office and called out their destination, Hermione following with Sirius.

The Lupins and Fred were waiting for George and Hermione to return even though it was late. They needed to know if the rescue went as planned and that everyone was safe. Colin and Snape gave up and went to bed earlier that night.

The three present turned their heads when the floo activated, knowing it was George or Hermione. They were surprised to see Amelia Bones step out with George and then a second later Sirius stepped out with Hermione.

Remus wasted no time running up to his brother and hugging the living daylights out of him. Tonks punched him in the arm and tried not to cry.

After happy reunions all around, Hermione and George showed themselves to Amelia and Sirius and explained what had happened. Amelia couldn't wait to see her niece who she was told was now living with Hannah Abbott and trying to live up to her aunt's success in the ministry. Sirius found a mirror and couldn't believe that he was now in his twenties and that he and Remus had de-aged so much. He also couldn't believe his friend wasn't a werewolf anymore.

"So wait, why are you guys here?" He just had to ask, it had been bugging him throughout the explanations.

"We died in the last battle Padfoot, we left a month old son behind and Harry's the godfather. I vaguely remember seeing you and talking to Harry for a few minutes at one point, but yeah. We were returned yesterday and they still need to get a few more people including Cedric Diggory, Luna's mum, your brother who turns out to be on our side, James and Lily and Fabian and Gideon. In fact, didn't you guys need something from Padfoot?" Remus asked George and Hermione.

They looked over and nodded to him. "Yeah Padfoot could we get your memory of the night Harry came back from the graveyard in fourth year? We need a better idea of what happens there so we can stay safe while we rescue Cedric."

Sirius nodded and used George's wand to pull a silvery memory from his head.

"Great, now, Remus and Tonks I know you have the most info on what's going on and what Harry has been up to, so if you could fill him in that would be amazing" Hermione continued while walking over to Sirius.

"Sirius, I know we weren't that close, but I'll answer any questions you have about Harry when I get back, the sooner we get done the sooner you can see him. He loves you so much and his heart was truly broken when you died. I'm glad you're back and I hope we can be better friends now that you're back."

"I hope so too Hermione. And thank you for taking care of my godson when I couldn't. He wouldn't be the same person if it wasn't for you and Ron. I'll talk to you later, be safe, you'll be in Voldemort's presence." She nodded to Sirius and left to look at the memory with George.

Remus, Sirius, and Tonks spent the next few hours talking about everything that had happened, after extensive teasing about the fact that Moony married his cousin, Sirius got the info he needed on Harry to rest his heart until he could see him again.


	11. Chapter 11

**I don't own Harry Potter or any of the ideas JK Rowling came up with. **

**Sorry for the delayed update, I had some family issues I needed to help with, but I should be able to update more frequently now. I hope you enjoy, please leave reviews. I love to hear your thoughts and greatly appreciate all the awesome things that have been said so far! THANKS! No flames please, if you don't like it, don't read it. **

George and Hermione concentrated together and thought of Riddle Manor's graveyard. They needed to make sure they made it to the right place, but that they were far enough away to not be seen by Wormtail. A few weeks earlier they had visited the graveyard to prepare for this future mission.

They appeared in the woods behind the graveyard , pulled on the invisibly cloak, and transformed into Slick and Rascal. Scurrying under the cloak, they both held it in their teeth as the walked to their destination. They finally stopped behind a gravestone big enough to feel covered and transformed back into their human selves. Even under the invisibility cloak they couldn't be too careful.

The plan was for George to cast the charm as he had actually been friends with Cedric and knew the Diggorys very well since they lived near the Burrow. Hermione would watch for Nagini; the last thing they needed was to be bitten by the huge snake that Hermione knew could sense them beneath the cloak. How else would "Bathilda" have seen her and Harry in Godric's Hollow?

Keeping a wary eye on their surroundings, the Unspeakables held hands tightly and waited for Cedric and Harry to arrive. A few minutes later they saw the two appear holding the blue Triwizard Cup. Cedric looked around warily and asked Harry if he knew the cup was a portkey while Harry looked around with a look of dawning comprehension. As Cedric advised them to get their wands out, George focused his energy and love on Cedric and cast the charm to save him. He knew that Cedric didn't last long in the graveyard and didn't want to miss his chance.

Harry fell to his knees in pain and George knew that Voldemort was near. Cedric stepped in front of Harry to protect him while he was down and raised his wand. Then, George heard the cold voice of Voldemort say to "Kill the spare" and Cedric was dead by Wormtail's wand. George crossed his fingers hoping that the his charm worked before the killing curse hit; it looked like they hit Cedric at the same time.

George knew that Hermione was overwhelmed after everything the past two days, so he took her hands and nodded toward the trees they had come from. He then turned back into Rascal and waited for Slick to join him before exiting the area the same way they had come in. Once they were past any wards that would detect their presence, they transformed back, packed up the cloak, and transported themselves to the DOM in their time.

When they reappeared, Hermione looked at George.

"Why did we leave? The battle wasn't over…" She asked.

"Well love, there were a few reasons really. First, we did what we went to do so we didn't need to stay. Also, I know that you have spent most of your life protecting Harry, so I didn't want you to feel helpless while he was fighting Voldemort. There was nothing you could do to help him, so I didn't want you to agonize over it. My last reason is that really, this is an even that only Harry has really witnessed and it's something that still haunts him. He hasn't shared it with us for a reason. I think he wants to protect you from that nightmare and I didn't think he'd appreciate us going behind his back to see what happened even if we're doing something great. He'll share it with us when he's ready. Now, lets try to get Cedric out."

Hermione answered "Yeah, thanks George, I think you're right. Do you think Cedric was brave enough to be saved?"

"Well from what I saw, he pulled out his wand and was going to protect Harry, but he didn't really get far in that. We don't know his heart, but I think it'll work. Why don't we go see?" George gave her a hug and squeezed an extra reassurance at the end.

They made their way to the veil and George cast the retrieval spell. A few minutes later nothing had happened and George's heart dropped to his stomach. "It didn't work, I thought for sure it would work, I thought he met the criteria…" He said, starting to blame himself for not being quick enough or for not doing the charm right.

He started to walk back towards Hermione with a dejected look on his face when he heard a voice from behind him say "Where am I? Wait, who are you?"

George stopped mid-step on his way to his girlfriend and partner and looked at her with hope in his eyes. He couldn't bear to look back yet. She looked behind him and then looked back up with a brilliant smile.

He couldn't believe it, so he finally turned around and saw Cedric Diggory standing in front of the veil looking confused. He looked the same as he had during the tournament; George could understand that, it had been a great year for the Hufflepuff champion until he ended up in the graveyard with Harry.

George pulled off his Unspeakable disguise and turned toward Cedric.

"Fred Weasley? Or are you George? You look older though, what's going on?" Cedric questioned once he saw who he was dealing with. "This isn't some elaborate prank right?"

George and Hermione both laughed at the last question while Hermione removed her disguise. Really, Fred should have been the one to question them about a prank, but Fred and George had pranked Cedric so many times through the years that it made perfect sense that he would ask.

"Hi Ced, I'm George, this isn't a prank, we were able to pull you back into the land of the living. I promise no dark magic was used, and right now we need to get you back to our headquarters to debrief you." George explained quickly, stalling other questions Cedric was going to ask.

Cedric nodded and looked at Hermione. "You're Granger…Hermione right? You're Potter's friend." He said once he recognized her.

"Yeah, it's nice to actually meet you Cedric. Just hold onto George and we'll floo back ok?" Cedric nodded and all three disappeared into the green flames.

Stepping out into the Chamber of Secrets the three were greeted by Remus, Tonks, Sirius, Fred, Snape, Colin, and Amelia. They had all been talking about what they knew had happened since Sirius had died to help him understand what he missed. When they saw George, Hermione, and Cedric, they were all relieved.

"How'd it go you guys?" Sirius asked first. He felt very protective of Hermione, much like Remus did. Hermione sensed his feelings and gave him, Remus, and Tonks hugs before going to stand between Fred and George where both wrapped their arms around her.

"It actually went really well, we got in and out without seeing too much, we didn't want to betray Harry's confidence in us since he hasn't shared that experience with us." Hermione said, looking at George in thanks for thinking that way in the first place.

"Yeah, we cast the charm and got Ced out and now we're here. Anyone want to help him understand what's going on and what he's missed?" George said with a laugh. He and Hermione were long overdue for some sleep and were supposed to be up to meet Harry for lunch the next day.

"Sure we'll help out, why don't you guys go get some rest? Oh and I think Sirius wanted to talk to you Mione." Remus said ushering Cedric over to join the group.

"Professor Lupin? Wait, I'm confused…" Cedric trailed off, seeing his teacher so much younger was throwing him off, then he saw Snape and really needed explanations.

"We'll explain everything the best we can Cedric." And Remus started to tell him what happened while Sirius got up and joined Hermione and George on the other side of the room.

"Hey, I just wanted to thank you both for everything. I know you're rescuing people that are important to Harry and this is going to mean so much to him. Also, Remus told me how we was after I died. Just, thank you so much, from the bottom of my heart, for taking care of him. I know I said it earlier, but I didn't understand the magnitude of what you've done for him and what you're still doing to thank you adequately. I still can't ever thank you enough Hermione. And you too George." Sirius started.

"Sirius, as much as we saved you for Harry's sake, it was also for you, and for us. Even though we didn't get to spend a lot of time with you, we still love you and we hope that this can be a second chance for you. I don't know if you know this, but Remus and Tonks are like my family now, my brother and sister. I would be honored to call you my brother as well." Hermione said smiling at him.

Sirius looked awed, "I would be honored Mione. Thank you so much. Oh and George, Fred said that I could work with him in the joke shop, is that ok with you?"

George laughed "Having a real marauder in our joke shop? Are you kidding, that would be the best. Weasley's Wizard Wheezes will be even better!" He said with a whoop.

"Now what is this I hear about you guys meeting with Harry tomorrow? I have a few questions that either you can answer or maybe find the info for tomorrow."

"Well we're gonna tell him that we're Unspeakables, he's getting suspicious of us. Being the head auror kind of makes him that way, so we thought we'd clear up any random ideas he could have come up with about what we've been up to." Hermione said with a laugh. They all knew that Harry couldn't leave a mystery unsolved.

"Ok well my one concern I guess is that since I died I passed everything on to Harry. As the Black heir he has ownership of Grimmauld place and Kreacher. Do you think that Kreacher has stopped taking his orders since I came back?" Sirius sounded concerned, but Hermione was one step ahead.

"We have to actually go to Gringotts and prove that you are alive again since you did technically die. Or your body did at least. Until we do that, Harry is still the Black heir and nothing will seem fishy in that sense. Kreacher won't even know you're back I don't think and he hated you anyways so he wouldn't be so attuned to you. Now, the problem might occur when we bring Regulus back. Kreacher might feel him and come to see him, in which case we'd need to keep him here so he doesn't tell Harry till we're ready." Hermione said.

Sirius nodded, hugged Hermione and George, and wished them goodnight. After he went back to the other group, George and Hermione went to George's room.

As soon as they shut the door, they looked at each other and George pulled Hermione into his arms and kissed her as passionately as he could. After a good snogging session, they laid on the bed in each others arms and Hermione was dozing off.

"Love, do you want to stay here again? I'll just hold you while we sleep so we can sleep better. I know we're meeting Harry for lunch in your quarters tomorrow, do we want to try to rescue Luna's mum and Regulus tomorrow night so we can get James and Lily the next day?"

Hermione thought about this for a moment "I'd love to stay here tonight, and I think it's a good idea if we try to get Sky and Regulus tomorrow. I'm worried we won't be able to save Sky though. And we need to find out from Harry if the potion would have killed Regulus or if it was the inferi. That will let us know when we need to do the charm, although I'm not sure how we'll get there. Maybe we can work it out with Harry tomorrow?"

"Hmm… yeah, if we meet Harry and let him know we're Unspeakables we could tell him that we're studying potions that can be used for protecting items and we need more info about the one that Voldemort used. That way he could describe its effects for us and then we could have him apparate us to the cave so we knew where it was. Hopefully he'll go for that without needing much more info." George said in agreement.

"Ok we'll try it tomorrow." Hermione cast a freshening charm on her teeth and transfigured her clothes into pajamas and set her wand alarm to wake her up early enough to beat Harry to her staff quarters.

George pulled on his pajamas and crawled into bed next to his girlfriend and pulled her against him. He smoothed her hair down and let his finger trail down her arm till he met her hand and intertwined their fingers over her stomach. He pulled her tight against him and kissed the back of her neck.

"Goodnight Mione, sweet dreams, I love you." He said with a kiss to her cheek.

She rolled enough to see him. "Night George, I love you too." She said with a goodnight kiss to his lips.

Soon after, both were sound asleep for the night and holding each other, protecting their loves from the nightmares that would have surely plagued them if they were alone.


	12. Chapter 12

**I don't own the amazing Harry Potter or any other characters. I hope you're enjoying this story, please leave me a review if you wish! No flames please! Have fun reading!**

The next morning George and Hermione woke up and went to their regular staff quarters to meet with Harry. They left the Chamber of Secrets while everyone else was playing a game of exploding snap to try and pass the time. Remus and Sirius had gotten over their grudge with Snape when Hermione explained what all Severus had done for Harry.

The mood in the Chamber was getting a little restless so George and Hermione knew they needed to get moving and get the rest of the people out of the archway quickly. They couldn't keep Remus and Tonks from Teddy for much longer. The same went with keeping Amelia from Susan, Sirius from Harry, and Colin from Dennis. Fred and Severus were ok waiting a bit, and Cedric just missed his family but didn't feel the need to rush back. He knew they had time to move on from his death and he was a bit nervous about how they would react to his return.

Exiting the Chamber of Secrets, George and Hermione walked out of the girls bathroom and up the stairs. Their staff quarters were conveniently next to each other so they separated at their portraits. George went to a portrait showing a quidditch pitch with a keeper in an old fashioned Gryffindor uniform and said his password "Fizzing Whizbangs" and waved to Hermione letting her know he'd be over in a few minutes.

Hermione continued to her portrait which showed a witch surrounded by books and told her the password "Golden Trio" before she went in. She was only inside long enough to change and tidy up a bit before she heard a the portrait say that Harry was outside. She let him in and George followed behind him.

Harry looked at her and smiled, hugging her close. "God, Mione I've missed you. I feel like I haven't seen you in years. What have you been up to? Do you like being the Muggle Studies professor? Neville says that all the kids love your class."

Hermione smiled at him and told him about Hogwarts, with George adding in his thoughts occasionally.

"Hey Harry, we have some things we need to talk to you about ok?" Hermione started. She could see that Harry was already suspicious of them from their stories about Hogwarts.

He nodded "Ok, I have to say, I'm curious about what you've really been up to, I'm having a hard time believing that my Hermione would be content to just teach Muggle Studies and not really be involved much more than that. Although, I do have to say you both seem pretty happy." He smiled. He trusted them, he was just curious.

"Ok well, first, we've been dating for awhile. We love each other." George said smiling and grabbing Hermione's hand. Harry smiled hugely and jumped up to hug them.

"I'm so happy for you guys, this is so great. Kinda weird cause you're like my brother and sister, haha, but I'm so glad you're happy. Does anyone else know yet?"

"No, you're actually the first. We'll probably keep it quiet a little longer, so please don't tell Ginny till we're ready. We have a few things to do in the next few days and we need to be able to focus. Just give us a few days and you can tell her. Or we can. She'll probably shriek pretty loud so it's up to you." Harry nodded, laughing because he knew this was totally true about his fiance.

"Ok what else do you need to tell me? You said that was just first…" He said trailing off.

"Ok well you can't repeat this to anyone else. Not even Ginny. We have special permission to tell you, not because you're our friend, but because you are Harry Potter and the head of the auror department. This is top secret information ok? We trust you, so does our boss, so you don't have to take any oaths." George started.

Harry was stunned. He knew something was going on with these two, but had no idea it was this important. He was completely intrigued about what his brother and sister were up to though so he nodded. "I promise, and while it will be hard to keep a secret from Ginny, she understands that I can't share everything with her because of my job. What's going on?"

Hermione continued "Well, um, we're Unspeakables. That's why we have easy jobs at Hogwarts. Being the muggle studies professor and flying instructor are just our cover stories. We spend the majority of our time working together as Unspeakables." She paused there to see if Harry had any questions they could answer.

He was shocked. "Wow. Unspeakables. Well, now I know why I can't tell anyone (he chuckled). Congratulations you two. That's amazing. Do you like it? I know you can't share much with me, but why are you allowed to tell me at all?"

George continued for Hermione. "Thanks Harry, we actually love it. We're partners and we work really well together. You're right, we can't share a lot of specifics with you, but we were allowed to tell you because we could tell you were getting suspicious and so could our boss. We all trust you and know that you could actually cause a bit of trouble if you wanted to investigate what we've really been doing. We didn't want any trouble, or for you to come to the wrong conclusion about us so we decided to just be honest with you. Also, we need your help with something we're working on."

"Ok that makes sense. I never can let go of a mystery and I can see how an auror investigation would kind of blow your cover. What do you need me to do?" Harry said, laughing again.

Hermione laughed with him. "Well we just need some information really. We're researching potions and kind of need some information about the potion that Voldemort used to protect the locket if that's ok with you. It won't leave the Department of Mysteries." Hermione saw Harry pale a bit before he nodded to indicate she could ask what she needed to know.

George took out a piece of parchment to take notes as Hermione started asking Harry questions.

"Well we need to know what kind of reaction Dumbledore had to the potion. Do you think the potion would have killed him on its own? Also, do you think there's any way you could take us to the cave and let us know how to get in?"

"Um, Dumbledore's reaction seemed like the potion made him see something horrible. I think it made him see when he was fighting Grindelwald and was trying to protect his sister and couldn't. As for if it would have killed him. He was really thirsty after he drank it and you had to get water from the lake, which woke the inferi. I think Voldemort's plan was for you to have to wake the inferi and then they would kill you. He seemed ok till we got back to Hogwarts and he asked me to get Snape. Although at this point I'm not sure if he wanted Snape to kill him or if he thought Snape could help. I still think that the inferi were meant to kill him though. And, um I guess I could take you to the cave, but the boat to get to the island where the potion is only holds one wizard. It worked for us because I was underage and it worked for Regulus and Kreacher because Kreacher didn't count in Voldemort's mind."

Hermione and George sat quietly absorbing the new information. If they used the boat and one went in their animagus form it should work since animagus's aren't seen the same way as a human wizard. They could go to the island, then say the spell and go back to when Regulus would be there. If they did the spell under the invisibility cloak quickly and then transported back out quickly they should be ok. If the inferi attacked before they left, they could be seen because Regulus would die anyways.

"Thanks Harry, do you think we could meet tonight outside the gates at say, 8? We have some things we need to do before then, but 8 should be ok."

"Yeah I think that will work." Harry said as he finished his lunch. One of the house elves had brought it while they were discussing the potion.

"Thanks Harry, I promise you won't regret helping us. We actually will have to talk with you again in a few days. Is that ok?" George said. Everything was working out.

"Yeah that'll work. Can you guys check in with me when you get back though? I know I'll be worried that you'll be eaten by inferi. Ok so they don't actually eat people, but don't drown ok? Promise you'll protect each other?"

"With our lives Harry. Don't forget we love each other. We're not going to let each other get into to much danger. I promise. And we'll absolutely check in tonight when we get back. We don't plan to be there for long." George said, hugging Hermione tight to his side to get his point across.

"Alright, then I suppose I'll see you both tonight at 8. Oh hey, do you know anything about where my invisibility cloak might be? I can't find it anywhere and you know it's one of my most favorite possessions." Harry said as the thought popped into his head.

Hermione blushed and looked sheepish. "Yeah, um about that, we have it. We'll just need it for a few more days. I promise I'll give it back next time I see you. What we're doing is very sensitive and we can't be discovered. We needed the best protection. I'm sorry I took it." She looked at her feet, knowing it was important to him and how much he would have missed his dad's cloak.

"Mione, look at me." he pulled her chin up to look in his eyes "It's fine that you use it as long as it's keeping you safe. You matter much more to me than any cloak. Both of you do. Whatever I can do to keep you safe is fine. You should have let me know you had it, but I'm not mad. Keep it as long as you need ok? I love you." He said and pulled her into a tight hug to let her know there were no hard feelings. She felt a weight lifted from her shoulders knowing that he wasn't mad.

"Thanks Harry. I love you too, and I will give it back next time I see you. Hopefully we'll be able to tell you more about our project by then as well. It's something I'm dying to share with you." She smiled at him as he was leaving through the portrait hole.

"See you tonight lovebirds. Don't get in any trouble till then!" Harry called as he left.

"Alright love, I think we should try to help Sky now and then we can finish up our plan for Regulus once we get back. That should be enough time before we need to meet Harry. We'll make sure to tell Remus and Sirius that we need to check in when we get back tonight so we don't forget. Although Sirius will probably be absorbed in his brother." George said.

"Yeah I think you're right, but at least Remus will remind us to check in. Lets get going to help Sky if we can." Hermione said as they left to go back down to the Chamber and put on their disguises.

…...

Once they were ready to go, they concentrated on the Lovegood's front yard and put on Harry's invisibility cloak. They clasped hands and said the spell to take them to the time when Luna was nine.

They arrived in front of the round castle like building and looked in the front window to try to locate Sky and Luna. They knew Luna had witnessed her mother's death so wherever Sky was, Luna would be there as well.

They didn't see anyone on the first floor so they went around to the back of the house, seeking a way in. That's when they saw Luna and her mum out back. Luna was playing by the creek, probably catching plimpies Hermione thought. Her mum was waving her wand trying to do who knows what. It seemed like she was trying to combine a few charms, ones that shouldn't really be combined.

Hermione knew that this was probably going to blow up pretty soon so she focused on Luna's love for her mum, as well as Xeno's love for his wife. She tried to focus on the bravery Sky was showing by trying to combine the charms, and she cast the spell to protect her. The translucent otter ran at Sky and hit her about 30 seconds before her wand blew up and knocked her back into the house. From under the invisibility cloak Hermione and George could see the blood dripping from the back of her head and knew that she was dead. They saw Luna run up to her mum crying and start shaking her.

They didn't know where Xeno was and didn't want to leave Luna until they knew she wouldn't be alone with her mum's body. She was just nine years old, she didn't realize what had really happened.

Hermione looked at George and he nodded. She transformed into Slick and George transfigured her fur into a purple color and gave her a horn like a unicorn only shorter, curved and glittery. He also cast a cheering charm just on her fur so that Luna would be calmed a bit when she touched her. She left the invisibility cloak and walked toward Luna.

Luna looked at her and reached her hand out with tears running down her face. Slick rubber her face against Luna's hand and let her pet her and hold her for comfort until Xeno walked around from the front of the house. When he saw his wife he shouted out and paled considerably. He picked Luna up and pulled her away with Slick in her arms.

"Luna baby, stay over here for a minute ok? Daddy needs to check and see what happened to mummy. How long has she been like this?" He said very lovingly to his daughter. This Xeno was nothing like the one Hermione knew, but he did always love his daughter.

"Um I dunno daddy, I was catching plimpies and I heard a big noise and saw a bright light. Then I looked over and mummy was laying by the house and she was sleeping. She hasn't woken up yet. I was so scared but then this crumple horned snorkack came and made me feel better." Luna explained. Hermione almost snorted when she realized that she was the inspiration for Luna's favorite creature.

Xeno nodded and walked over to check his wife, letting out a sob when he realized she was gone. He went over to Luna. Looked at Hermione and had Luna let her go when he picked up his daughter. "We'll find the snorcack again later sweetheart, daddy needs to talk to you and call the aurors ok?" Then he walked into the house and Hermione saw the green flash indicating he was using the floo.

She walked back over to George and slipped under the invisibility cloak, not noticing that Luna was looking out the window. George did see their young friend and couldn't help but chuckle. When Hermione had turned back into a human he hugged her and whispered in her ear.

"Mione, you just showed Luna that the crumple horned snorcack could become invisible. As much as you argued that they don't exist you were the actual thing." George said trying not to laugh. Then he looked back over at Sky and sobered immediately. He didn't think they'd be able to retrieve her. Sure, Luna and her dad loved Sky, but nothing about that situation was brave or courageous.

"Let's go back and see if we can bring her back ok? It was so hard trying to console Luna. She was so… normal at this point in her life, although I guess she already loved creatures." Hermione said while they got ready to go.

They transported themselves back to the DOM and proceeded to try the charm to get Sky Lovegood back. When a half hour had passed without any indication that she was returning, they knew she wouldn't come back. Heartbroken, they started to leave the ministry.

They decided to apparate to Hogsmeade and walk back to Hogwarts to try and prepare for their next mission. On their walk back, they ran into Luna who had been visiting Neville at the school.

Hermione ran up and gave her a big hug, something she'd been wishing she could do since she saw her in the past. Luna hugged her back just as tightly and whispered "You tried Mione and that's what matters. My mum loved me, and that's enough for me. Thank you. And thanks for trying to comfort me, it really helped me, your crumple horned snorcack animagus was amazing. You're one of my best friends and I love you, promise I won't tell your secrets." She let go of Hermione and ignored the flabbergasted look on her friends face.

She hugged George next and said "Congratulations George, you and Mione were meant to be, I'm glad you both realized it. Oh and thanks for trying earlier. It means a lot that you would." With that she walked off toward the Three Broomsticks to take the floo back to Diagon Alley.

George and Hermione looked at each other and just started laughing. "She knew everything. I knew she was brilliant. I'm glad she's not upset that it didn't work though, I feel a bit better now." Hermione said. She should have expected this from her Ravenclaw friend.

"You know Mione, I bet we could sell Crumple Horned Snorcack plushies at the store. It would be great. They could go invisible occasionally. I think they'd sell really well. Let's go tell Fred!" George said with a grin.


	13. Chapter 13

**I unfortunately don't own Harry Potter even though my husband probably wishes he could get a nickel for every time I mention it. We'd seriously be rich.**

**Thanks for reading and leaving reviews! Please no flames, otherwise, enjoy the story!**

Hermione and George finally made it back down to the Chamber and saw everyone sitting around. They all looked up and noticed that there wasn't anyone with them.

Remus and Tonks got up and hugged Hermione tight, knowing it wouldn't be easy for her to not be able to help her friend. She cried for a moment but then explained their encounter with Luna and realized she was ok.

"Sirius, we're trying to rescue Regulus next. Did Remus and Tonks explain anything about that?" Hermione asked. She didn't want to bring Regulus in later to a room full of people that thought he was a Death Eater.

"Not really, they said he was on the light side at the end but I don't know why or how you found that out." He looked so hopeful that he'd get his little brother back.

"Ok, well, he was a Death Eater as you know. He actually found out a plot of Voldemort's and decided to try to bring him down. You know what a horcrux is?" Sirius paled but nodded, he had learned some things growing up in the Black household that most other people wouldn't know.

"You mean, Voldemort made one? How does that go with Reggie's story?" Sirius asked quickly.

"Ok I thought you'd know what they were, Voldemort actually made seven. I'll tell you the full story later, or let Harry. We destroyed all of them, don't worry. But anyways, Regulus found out about one and Voldemort actually used Kreacher to place it. Regulus told Kreacher to come back after he helped Voldemort, so he did. He's a good house elf, although I think that might be part of what messed up his mind. Anyways, once he got back, he asked Kreacher to take him to where Voldemort had gone. He went in and drank a potion and gave the horcrux to Kreacher and then was killed by inferi. Kreacher kept the horcrux safe because he couldn't figure out how to destroy it and then Harry, Ron, and I found it and destroyed it for him. Kreacher is a completely different elf now without that damned horcrux around." Hermione explained to the eldest Black brother. He had gotten paler throughout the story and she grabbed his arm knowing he needed some support.

"So he sacrificed himself to kill a piece of Voldemort's soul, and Kreacher helped? My baby brother died to bring down Voldie. Wow." Sirius was almost in shock, but he hugged Hermione for giving him the information he needed and then ushered her to go plan with George.

A while later they were ready to go and said goodbye to everyone, reminding Remus to tell them to check in with Harry when they got back. They headed down to the front gates and met with Harry, who apparated them to a cliff.

"Ok you guys, you swim across here, and into that crevice over there. See it? Ok once you're inside, feel for the magic on the far wall. I know Mione can do that at least, it will want a blood offering so you just need to slice your hand or something and the doorway will open. Once you're in, don't go to far, the edge of the lake isn't very wide and you definitely don't want to fall in. If you so much as touch the water, the inferi will wake, and believe me when I say that the lake is full of them. There are literally thousands of dead bodies in there. You'll walk a bit, keep checking the air, you'll feel the magic, but there is an invisible chain that you need to pull the boat up with. That's where it gets tricky. You can only have one full wizard in the boat to get across the lake unharmed. I think once we removed the locket, the basin filled back up. PLEASE don't drink the potion. Promise me you won't or I won't let you go in there at all." Harry said in full auror mode.

Hermione was used to this side of Harry. In all of their adventures, especially their seventh year, he was in charge and you didn't ask twice about his instructions. This was his true leader mode and it was undeniable that he was an excellent leader.

George on the other hand, wasn't used to this Harry and was quite impressed with his younger brother's authority.

"Oh don't worry Harry, we promise we won't drink the potion. And we've got the boat situation handled too. We'll check in with you when we get back to Hogwarts ok? Do you want to meet tomorrow night or Wednesday sometime to get a better rundown of what we're doing? We should be ready by then." Harry nodded, agreeing to meet them the next night. He'd take the day shift and make sure he was off to hear what they were up to. His curiosity was really starting to haunt him.

"Alright, I'll let you two get to work. Send a patronus if you need help ok? I'll talk to you later. Good luck and stay safe you two!" He said before he disapparated back to his fiance.

"Ok let's get this done so we can get back. It's freezing out here and I'm not so much looking forward to swimming over there." Hermione said looking at the dark waters.

"Let's go love, the sooner we go the sooner we get back. Let's swim as otters, that way we won't be as cold." George suggested. Hermione could have smacked herself, that was such a good idea and it hadn't even crossed her mind.

They transformed into Slick and Rascal and climbed down to the water. A short swim later and they were in the cave and climbing up the rocks. They transformed back into humans and Hermione set out feeling all the walls to find the magic spot Harry had mentioned.

It took a few minutes, but she found it and sliced fingers before George could get close enough to offer. She spread the blood on the stone where the sacrifice needed to go but nothing happened. George asked if he should try and she shrugged. He healed her fingers and then sliced his own hand, putting the blood in the same spot. The archway immediately opened for them and Hermione healed George's cut with a simple healing spell.

"Why didn't it work for me?" Hermione asked. She knew she put her blood in the same spot.

"I'm sorry love, but Voldemort was very prejudiced, and a pureblood sacrifice would mean more to him than a muggle born. Personally I think we should call muggle born witches and wizards 'new blood' because you're a new family line that is untainted. Really if anyone has so called 'dirty blood' like the prejudiced people think, it would be the old pureblood families that marry their cousins." George said while staying on the edge of the lake and feeling around for the invisible chain.

Hermione agreed and couldn't believe she didn't think of that before slicing her fingers. Suddenly she felt a shift in the magic around them and realized they must be close to the boat chain.

"George I think the chain is around here somewhere. Feel around in the air." She advised while she felt closer to the ground.

George reached up and felt the chain. He told Hermione and then started to bring the little boat up from the lake. Once it was free and ready to be ridden to the little island, George told her that she should be the one to change into Slick.

"If Voldemort didn't think your blood was good enough for the sacrifice, he wouldn't count you for the boat either I don't think. I think I'll be safe as the full wizard for this, and with you in your animagus form we definitely won't have any problems." Hermione agreed and changed into Slick, scurrying into the boat before George.

They set off and grimaced when they could see the faces staring up at them from the water. George kept his wand lit and soon they were at the island.

Hermione knew that this would be their one chance to get a sample of the potion in the basin and she had a plan that Voldemort never would have thought of. From what Harry had told them, they wouldn't be able to reach into the potion, nor could they get a sample without drinking from it. The potion was protected from the top. Voldemort, however never thought about muggle ideas and discounted all things muggle. So Hermione brought out a drill and slowly carved a hole in the bottom of the basin. As soon as she made it through, the potion started to drain out and she filled up a few vials to take to the Unspeakables that were actually researching potions.

George didn't know that she was planning to do this and started to laugh when he thought about how much Voldemort's plan failed when it was put up against a smart muggle born witch.

After they finished proving how much of an idiot Voldemort really was, they put the invisibility cloak on and transported themselves back in time. They looked up and saw Regulus Black rowing the boat closer to the island. They backed up to make sure they were out of the way, after all, they may be invisible, but they were still solid.

Regulus and Kreacher got out of the boat and they heard Regulus give his instructions to Kreacher while the house elf begged for him to stay away from the awful potion.

"No master Regulus, you must not drink the potion. It shows terrible, terrible things. It make you sick! There is scary things in the water, they come get you! Please master! Let Kreacher drink!" Kreacher wailed while hitting himself for disobeying.

"No Kreacher, you're a good elf. When I'm done drinking, take the locket and replace it with this one. Take the locket that's in the basin and go back home. Destroy it as soon as you can and don't tell anyone what you're up to or what happened to me." Regulus said, handing Kreacher the fake locket with the note from RAB.

He walked over to the basin and started to drink the potion. Hermione and George decided that the inferi killed him, because Kreacher lived through drinking the potion the first time and Dumbledore seemed like he would have lived, so they waited to cast the spell.

After a few drinks Regulus collapsed to his knees and started to scream. With tears running down his face he took another drink.

"No don't hurt him! He didn't choose to be in Gryffindor! He's still my brother! Don't hurt him! NO! SIRIUS! Come back!" Regulus cried. It seemed like he was seeing when his mother tortured Sirius and kicked him out of the Black family.

Hermione's heart hurt, she knew that Regulus was reliving one of his worst memories. They saw him get nearer to the end of the potion and Hermione got ready to cast the protection charm on him. She focused on Sirius's love for him and how brave he was for defying Voldemort and not making Kreacher drink the vile potion. Her translucent otter came out and waited until Regulus was done with the potion and had woken the inferi before entering his heart.

Soon they saw the inferi grab him and drag him under the water while Kreacher looked on with tears flowing down his face. The inferi apparently couldn't sense the two under the invisibility cloak and soon settled down after Kreacher disapparated back home.

Once they were back in their time, George and Hermione went back out of the cave and to the cliff. They disapparated from there to the DOM and went straight to the room with the archway.

Hermione concentrated on Regulus and said the spell to return him from the veil. He came out almost immediately and looked warily at her and George who had put on their Unspeakable disguises.

"Where am I? What did you do?" Regulus asked. He knew he had died and now he seemed quite alive.

"You are back, we sent your soul to this archway and used a charm to bring you back. It wasn't anything dark, in fact it judges your worthiness by your bravery. If you would follow us back to our headquarters we will debrief you and explain more." George said drawing his wand since Regulus didn't actually know them.

"Why would I follow two people that I don't know, explain yourselves!" He yelled. George stunned him and they took him back to the Chamber of Secrets.

Coming out of the floo, they immediately saw Sirius, who had stayed up to wait for his little brother. "What happened, did you have to stun him?" He asked when he saw Regulus was unconscious.

"Yeah, he didn't know us and wasn't going to come quietly so we thought he'd do better if he saw you before anyone else. It'll be easier that way, especially since he doesn't know you died in the future." George explained to the panicked brother.

"Oh ok, well then wake him up! I don't have my wand back yet or I would." He smirked at them.

"Ennervate" Hermione said pointing her wand at Regulus. He immediately started to stir and then sat up panicked. He looked around and saw Sirius smiling at him.

"Siri, I didn't mean to join, they threatened your life, they said they had to have one Black brother and since you didn't join, I either had to or they would kill you to punish me." Regulus said panicking when he saw his brother.

Sirius ran over and hugged his brother. "Shh Reggie it's ok. I know you didn't follow Voldemort. You died trying to stop him. God I'm so happy to see you. You're safe, he's gone, and so are all of his horcruxes thanks to you." He tried to calm his little brother down. It seemed like Regulus was still about two years younger than Sirius.

They spent the next hour trying to explain everything to the younger Black brother and then left Sirius to explain what happened with the Potters since Regulus never believed that he would betray James. He had long ago accepted Sirius and James were brothers in all but blood and he was glad his brother had found someone that loved him once he was kicked out of the Black family. Although he had still loved his big brother, he was forbidden to show it.

Hermione and George sent off an owl to Harry to let him know they were ok and then left the reunited Black brothers to catch up. They walked into George's room and planned out what they wanted to do the next day. They needed to complete their last two rescues before they met with Harry.


	14. Chapter 14

**I don't own Harry Potter or any of the characters. **

**I just want to say thanks to my reviewers! **

**Binka Fudge: I love your reviews! They always make me smile! Thanks for your questions as well, I try to answer them throughout the story, some of the stuff you bring up I hadn't thought of before! Oh and I don't think you're crazy, if you are then I am as well!**

**Digigirl02: Glad you're enjoying the story, I was so mad when JK Rowling killed off Remus, Fred, and Sirius that I just had to bring them back! Thanks for the reviews and for sticking with my story!**

**AddictedtoTwilightForever: Here's your update :o)**

"Ok so we need to get Lily and James and Fabian and Gideon tomorrow. Any ideas?" George asked Hermione while they were sitting on his bed with parchment spread all over with their plans.

"Well let's see, we know that James died before Lily. He was downstairs and according to Harry he ran into the hallway to meet Voldemort while he sent Lily upstairs with Harry. I think you can be down in the living room to cast the charm on James. The problem with Lily is that I think she barricaded the door to Harry's room. I'll have to be in the room already so she doesn't lock me out. I've seen the wreckage of the house though and that part of the house is totally blown apart. I'm not sure how to get out of the room before the explosion. And I don't know what actually happens to Voldemort, nobody knows so I guess I'll just have to risk it." Hermione thought out loud as she wrote down her plans.

"Ok, so we'll go to Godric's Hollow and go into the house tomorrow in our time. Then once we're in we'll go to the kitchen and travel through time to the kitchen in their time? Do you think it'll work since they'll be under a Fidelius?" George brought up a good point.

"I think since we know the address in the future we'll be ok. Plus since we'll be in the house already, we won't need to know the address once we're there. Our time travel charm is so obscure that they won't have wards against that. How do you want to stay hidden?"

"I think you should definitely have the invisibility cloak. I'll be hiding in the living room. When we get there I'll turn into Rascal and find a place to hide, turn back to George, cast the charm and have it wait till Voldy shows up, then go back to Rascal and meet you in the kitchen. I think we should check out the house tomorrow when we get there and see what the damage is so we can figure out how to stay safe and avoid getting hurt. You can run upstairs under the invisibility cloak and get into Harry's nursery and cast the spell on Lily when you hear James yell. Have it wait for the right moment and turn into Slick. Stay under the invisibility cloak and just stay as far away from Voldemort as possible, you don't want him to notice you. Try and avoid the explosion, I really don't want you hurt. Are you sure you want to be upstairs? We could trade places…" George trailed off; he really didn't want Hermione to get hurt.

"I want to be upstairs. I have to be by Harry. If something happens during the explosion, I'll try to find you as quickly as possible. I know Sirius was quick to get there and I think Peter was outside so try not to be seen. Stay Rascal until you find me at least." Hermione said a little nervously. This was the one rescue that was the most dangerous because of the close proximity to Voldemort and the explosion in the room that Harry was in. The only witness to the event was a one year old Harry which didn't help much either.

"Well love, are you ready for bed? I think we should just go ahead and focus on Lily and James and once we have them back we can focus on Fabian and Gideon. Sound good?" George said as he cleared his bed off and pulled down the covers.

"I think that's good. This rescue will take the most focus and we can't mess up. I can't break Harry's heart like that." Hermione said with tears in her eyes.

George pulled her close and stroked her back. "We'll save them Mione; I want to save them for Harry too. We won't fail, we'll get them back. It'll be over tomorrow. Then we can tell Harry the amazing news and watch the happy reunion. And Teddy can meet Remus and Tonks and you can really be Aunt Mione. You are so amazing and I'm so thankful you're my partner. I've fallen completely in love with you Mione." She had calmed down by the end of his speech and reached up to stroke his cheek with her hand.

"I'm completely in love with you too George. I know all you want to do is spend time with Fred, but thanks for sticking with me and making sure I'm ok. You've helped me so much through this and when it's all said and done I want you to spend some time with your twin. I know you're a package deal and I love Fred too, I can share you with him. I love you George…" She trailed off as she kissed him goodnight.

George knew he loved her with everything he had, and when she kissed him goodnight he felt like his whole world was right. He pulled her a bit closer and deepened the kiss, running his tongue over her lip asking for entrance. She opened her lips and let him explore her mouth and they both reveled in the feelings that were being passed between them. Each poured every ounce of love they had for one another into the kiss and it quickly became a kiss full of passion and fireworks. When they both needed air, they pulled away slightly, still touching foreheads.

"Love you Mione, sweet dreams…" George said breathlessly kissing her cheek and her neck slowly. He turned her around so he was hugging her close to him and held her as she fell asleep.

The next morning Hermione woke to the smell of bacon, coffee, and waffles. Wondering who got food so early in the morning she slowly eased out of Georges arms and slid off the bed. She didn't want to wake him up; they were both extremely tired from their adventures the past few days and had also stayed up a bit late snogging the night before.

She walked out of George's room and was met by the sight of a huge breakfast laid out on the table. Looking around she saw Sirius, Remus, and Tonks all bustling around getting everything set up for breakfast.

"Morning everyone" she announced her presence and all three people stopped in their tracks and looks up at her. Smiling, Remus came over and hugged her tight, followed by Tonks and Sirius.

"Morning Mione! We thought we'd make sure you and George got a good breakfast today. We know you're going to try to rescue James and Lily today and we just want to help any way we can." Remus explained, walking her to the table. George came out and let out a "Whoop" when he saw all of the food.

"Not that I'm complaining, but what's this for?" He asked as he joined them at the table and started loading up his plate.

"We want to help you out today, we know it'll be tough to save James and Lily, but we'll be so incredibly thankful if you can pull it off. Words can't even express how much we'd both like to see them again. We know it's not positively going to work, and we'd rather you were safe, but like I said we want to help…" Remus was rambling while trying to describe how he and Sirius were feeling. They didn't want to pressure the two Unspeakables, but they really wanted Prongs and Lily back. Not to mention how amazing it would be for them to see Harry with his parents. They knew that George and Hermione understood what they were feeling as they both loved Harry as well.

After breakfast and a few words with Sirius to prepare them for the aftermath of Voldemort's first downfall they prepared to leave.

"Alright love, do you have the cloak?" George asked as they walked out. He knew Hermione was always prepared but it wouldn't do to get to Godric's Hollow and realize they didn't have it.

"I have it George; I think we've got everything. We can change into our Unspeakable robes once we get to Godric's Hollow." Hermione answered.

They had decided to walk out of Hogwarts and go into Hogsmeade before apparating to Godric's Hollow. They wanted to make an appearance to the outside world for a few minutes since to everyone else it looked like they'd been in their quarters for a few days straight.

They both enjoyed just peacefully walking together and holding hands on the way down to Hogsmeade. They even passed Neville who smiled at their clasped hands and congratulated them on finally getting together. He and the other teachers had a pool going on how long it would take them to realize they were in love.

Once they made it to Hogsmeade they walked over by the Shrieking Shack, put on their Unspeakable robes, and disapparated to Godric's Hollow.

George and Hermione cast disillusionment charms on themselves and walked over to where they knew Harry's home had been. Hermione knew that if you touched the gate you could see it, so she reached out and settled her hand on the rusty old gate.

Immediately they could see the remains of the house their friend had lost so much in. They both hopped the little gate and went around the back to avoid being seen opening the door. The backdoor was locked and it seemed that charms wouldn't unlock it. George smiled at Hermione and proceeded to pick the lock the muggle way.

Once the door was opened they cautiously moved inside. Not knowing the state of the house, they didn't want to be caught in a cave in. The back door led into the kitchen which was, luckily, still fully intact. Their entrance and exit strategy would work out without problem. They proceeded through the kitchen doorway and found the living room where they assumed James was murdered. According to Sirius, he found James at the bottom of the stairs. It looked like the entrance to the house was part of the living room and James obviously would have been intercepting Voldemort and trying to get him away from the stairs.

George looked around for a good hiding spot. He couldn't be seen from the large front window and obviously didn't want to be seen by James or Voldie. He finally found the perfect spot. There was a bathroom at the end of the hallway between the kitchen and the living room. If he snuck in there as Rascal he could see everything in the living room perfectly and be close enough to cast the charm without drawing Voldemort's attention.

Once they were done downstairs, Hermione and George made their way upstairs. The house was very clean, Hermione remembered Remus saying he had come after Sirius was arrested and gathered all of the Potter's belongings and set a charm to protect the house from the elements.

At the top of the stairs they found a guest bedroom, a bathroom and then finally two doors at the end of the hallway which ended up being the master bedroom and Harry's room. The door to Harry's room was open and when they went inside they both just saw complete chaos. The wall was blown apart and the roof seemed to be completely gone. The crib was knocked over and all the other furniture looked like it was pushed aside. There was a large part of the floor missing and Hermione was surprised that Harry survived his first encounter with Voldemort with only a scar on his forehead. Looking down it looked like the rubble from the floor landed in a study on the main level.

Hermione decided that she would hide in Harry's closet; it had slats on the door so she would be able to poke her wand out and cast the charm.

They carefully returned downstairs to the kitchen and held hands as they transported themselves to Harry's past.

"Love you Mione, be safe, I'll be here if you need me." George whispered quietly.

"Love you to George. You be safe too, see you in a little while." Hermione smile and pulled the invisibility cloak over herself and watched as George became Rascal. She picked him up under the cloak and silently crept over to the hallway and put him down in the bathroom. She pet his head and then slowly crept over to the end of the hallway. She could see James lying on the couch daydreaming while Lily was walking over towards the stairs. Hermione knew that it was now or never so she followed Lily over to the stairs and smiled at Harry over Lily's shoulder even though Harry couldn't see her.

She heard James get off the couch and then she heard him shout to Lily. She hurried after Lily to make sure she made it into the room and then quickly ran across the room to the closet. Lily was frantic and placed Harry in his crib. She kissed his little forehead quickly, swept his bangs back, and then started to push furniture in front of the door. She could hear James struggling downstairs and it was clear by the look on her face that she would do anything to help him. When she heard his last yell she almost broke down but then Hermione saw her face change into one of determination. She would not let Voldemort have her child.

Hermione knew that once Voldemort was in the room she wouldn't have much time to cast the charm to save Lily, so she focused on Harry's love for his mother, as well as Sirius and Remus's love for her and her overwhelming bravery in standing up to Voldemort and dying for her son. She cast the charm and had it stay until Voldemort offered Lily's life.

Hermione was watching closely as Voldemort came into the room and blasted away the furniture Lily had put in front of the door. Harry was crying silently in his crib and Lily pleaded with Voldemort to leave him alone. Hermione's otter went into Lily's heart before Voldemort could curse her and then she fell down lifeless. Hermione had to stop herself from gasping as she struggled to subdue her sobs while watching the horrible creature go toward Harry after stepping over Lily's body.

Harry looked up and noticed that the man in the cloak was not his father and started to cry. It broke Hermione's heart to watch Voldemort point his wand at the baby form of her best friend. She heard Voldemort cast the killing curse on Harry and then remembered she should have braced herself as she felt the explosion hit the room and briefly saw Voldemort's body explode in a cloud of black smoke. She knew he was gone at the point so she carefully picked her way out of the closet. She found Harry next to his overturned crib, crying and trying to crawl away. He neared the edge of a charred spot on the floor and Hermione went toward him to get him away from any possible danger.

As her back was turned, the mist form of Voldemort rushed toward Harry and ended up hitting the invisible Hermione and blowing up the hole in the floor that she remembered was in the house in her time.

Feeling the floor cracking quickly, Hermione slid Harry closer to his crib and crashed through the floor into the study below. She could hear him crying, but she also heard what sounded like footsteps coming closer to her and a roaring noise approaching before she realized she had a searing pain in her side and leg. She barely saw a dark shadow fall across the doorway to the study when she was enveloped in darkness, passing out from the pain she felt.


	15. Chapter 15

**Hi everyone! Sorry for the cliffhanger! I wrote the last chapter at work and well... work was over for the day so it ended up being the end of the chapter as well! **

**I don't own Harry Potter! I wish... Did everyone see the new trailer for HP7? so good. **

**Thanks so much for your reviews, I greatly appreciate them, please leave more if you want :) **

**There should only be a few more chapters... so enjoy!**

Meanwhile...

George leaned into Hermione's hand as she rubbed Rascal's head. He backed into the bathroom and quickly transformed back into a human. He peaked out and saw James getting up from the couch. He hoped Mione had made it upstairs by now as he heard the front door open with a bang.

As James leapt toward the door to block Voldemort's path to the stairs, George prepared to cast the rescuing charm. He had to block out the sounds of James shouting for Lily to run with Harry while he focused on Harry's love for the father he never got to know and Remus and Sirius's love for their brother and fellow marauder. He also thought of how brave James was to protect his family and stand up to Voldemort as he said the incantation to summon the little translucent otter that would, hopefully save James Potter's soul and send it to the archway. When the otter leapt from his wand, George silently willed it to make it to James before Voldemort hit him with the killing curse.

He watched as the otter connected with James's chest seconds before Voldemort's killing curse finally hit. Backing further into the bathroom, George changed back into Rascal and made his way back to the kitchen. He could hear Lily and Harry's cries and hoped that Mione was ok. He hid under the kitchen table just in case someone unexpected came in until he heard Lily's pleas stop.

He suddenly heard and felt the explosion that Tom Riddle caused as he tried to curse the baby Harry. Rascal kept his ears focused on the sounds upstairs while waiting for Hermione to join him in the kitchen.

He could hear Harry whimpering, but he didn't expect to hear another explosion. He was surprised to feel the house shake and thought it was probably either the roof or the floor caving in to match what he'd seen in the future. He waited a moment but Slick didn't come. George was starting to worry so he ventured down the hall toward the living room. The little otter animagus shuttered as he saw James lying lifeless at the bottom of the stairs, his eyes open but unseeing.

He could still hear Harry's cries from upstairs and was grateful that the toddler hadn't fallen with the damaged floor. As he was walking toward the stairs however, he noticed a bunch of dust coming out of a room at the end of the hallway. He knew that must be the study where the cave in landed, he'd seen it from Harry's room before they left the future.

Suddenly George heard a moan and knew it had to be Hermione. He made sure he was out of sight before he turned into a human again and ran towards the room yelling.

"Mione! Baby are you ok? Love answer me! Mione?" He didn't get an answer and knew something was wrong. He finally made it to the door and looked around frantically trying to see past the settling dust. He could hear Sirius's motorbike in the distance and knew he needed to get out of there fast.

He finally spotted a pale and dusty Hermione under some of the rubble. He carefully made his way over to her and knelt down.

"Mione? Hermione answer me..." He trailed off as he started carefully lifting the beam off of his girlfriend. Her leg was at an odd angle, definitely broken, and he could see blood seeping from a wound in her side where the beam had landed on her. George knew that he had to get her help quickly or she'd be lost forever.

He was vaguely aware of the motorbike's motor turning off and was only brought back to reality when he heard the heart wrenching sound that Sirius must have made upon seeing the house and his best friends. George carefully gathered up his unconscious girlfriend and hoped to Merlin that he could get both of them back to the future. They'd always done the time travel spell themselves, he didn't know if it would work like side-along apparition but that was his only choice. He thought hard about the Chamber of Secrets in their time and cast the spell, holding tight to Hermione's unconscious form.

He was relieved to see that they both made it to the Chamber of Secrets and he was only partially aware of Remus and Sirius running up to him and asking about Hermione.

"She, she fell through the floor I think. I found her in the study. I need to get her to Poppy. She's been out for...I don't know... maybe a few minutes?" He couldn't think straight and at that moment is when Fred came out of his room and saw George standing there with a bloody Hermione.

"George! Georgie! Pull yourself together! You need to get her upstairs. Just use the floo and floo straight to the Hospital Wing. Go! We'll send one of the house elves to check on you guys later. You can do this, you have to help Mione!" Fred finally got through his twin's shock and George ran toward the floo crying out "Hogwarts Hospital Wing" as he threw the green powder in.

Madam Pompfrey was just finishing up mending a young man's arm after he fell down one of the moving staircases when she saw her floo light up. It was unusual for anyone to use it but it was usually a grave emergency when it did flare up. She gasped when she saw that it was George Weasley supporting a gravely injured Hermione Granger.

"What happened to her! Get her over here on a bed and then stand back!" She yelled, not waiting for his response as to what caused the girl's injuries. She did a quick scan to confirm her injuries. What she found made her pale considerably but she would heal the girl. She'd never given up on a student yet.

"Weasley, you know what a blood replenishing potion looks like correct?" He nodded "Go get four vials of that plus a dreamless sleep, I don't want Miss Granger waking up while I'm healing her. Also get one of the tall skinny bottles that has the light sparkly blue potion. Quickly now!" She turned back to her patient as George ran to get the needed potions. She cleaned Hermione's wounds and set her broken leg before George made it back.

Poppy charmed the dreamless sleep potion directly into Hermione's stomach and then charmed two of the blood replenishing potions directly into her bloodstream. Once she did those first steps she looked back at the wound on Hermione's side. It looked like something crushed her. She had a few broken ribs and some internal bleeding as well as a severely bruised pelvis. She poured the blue potion into the wound to clear out the debris. It latched onto the wood that was still floating around and with a flick of her wand, Poppy removed all the debris.

She set about stopping the internal bleeding and then closed up the side wound. She couldn't do much about Hermione's ribs or pelvis as she needed the potions and magic to heal her leg and internal wounds more. Once she was satisfied that Miss Granger would recover, she turned to George.

"Are you hurt as well?" She asked, recognizing the signs that he would at least need a calming draught.

George shook his head to let the healer know he was fine while he went to the bed and held Hermione's hand tightly with tears streaming down his face. He had promised to protect her and she got hurt. She wasn't even conscious. She looked so pale and tiny in the bed. Suddenly he felt a cool glass being put into his hand.

Looking down he saw Madam Pompfrey handing him a glass of water and holding another glass of what he could see was a calming draught. He knew he probably needed that so he drank the water and then held his hand out for the calming draught. He tipped his head back and downed the bitter potion in one gulp, feeling the effects immediately.

Now that he could think again, he realized that he needed to let Harry know what happened and send word to the people in the Chamber. Hermione had more "family" down there than she did anywhere else. Harry was her brother but so were Fred, Remus, and Sirius, and Tonks was like her big sister. They'd all want news.

George called out to Kreacher hoping that the elf would answer him. He knew this was the fastest way to get a message to Harry. It took a moment but suddenly he heard a loud pop and saw the little elf waiting with eyebrows raised to see why someone other than his master had called him.

"Kreacher, can you tell Harry that Hermione's been injured and she's in the Hogwarts infirmary?" George told him and watched as the elf disappeared once again.

Within a few minutes he heard the pop of the elf again and assumed he'd come with a message back from Harry only to see the man himself letting go of the elf's hand and rushing toward him.

Harry saw the blood on George's uniform and the tear streaks down his face and ran toward his brother. "George what happened? Is she ok? Are you ok?" He didn't know what to ask first. When Kreacher appeared in his office he'd just dropped everything and told Kreacher to bring him back.

George nodded his head and explained that they were in a cave in and she was crushed by some debris. It looked like she'd be ok, Poppy had her stable, but she'd lost a lot of blood and wouldn't wake up till late that night or the next day due to the sleeping draught.

Harry relaxed a bit knowing that she was going to be ok but hated to see his Mione lying helpless in the bed. He knew that George brought her to Poppy because they were working when the accident happened and Poppy never asks questions, just helps. He turned to George and saw the state he was in.

"George you should go clean up, I'll take care of her till you get back ok? You're a mess. I won't even let go of her hand while you're gone." Harry said, hoping to get through to the redhead. He knew that George probably needed to let his boss know the situation as well. George nodded and Harry squeezed his shoulder as he got up to leave.

As he was walking out the door he turned back and cast a charm to change Mione's clothes to regular hospital attire instead of anything to identify her as an unspeakable. He grabbed her robe from where Poppy had discarded it and took it back to the Chamber of Secrets with him. It had her mirror, wand, and Harry's invisibility cloak in it.

George waited till he was in his room before he mirror called Firefox.

"Hey Rascal what can I do for you?" Flitwick asked his young Unspeakable.

"Um well Slick was injured on our last run, she's in the hospital wing at Hogwarts, and I thought that'd be better than St. Mungo's. Less questions to answer. Harry's with her right now and I'm just gonna get washed up before I go back up." George tried to explain. He felt horrible guilty and Flitwick could hear it in his voice and see it on his face.

"Ok Rascal. I'll find a reason to go check in on her sometime tonight. I'm sure it was an accident, what happened?"

"Well we were at the Potter's on the night they were killed. She was upstairs casting the charm on Lily and I was downstairs with James. I heard an explosion and then a few minutes later another explosion made part of the floor collapse into the study below. I got over there as fast as I could and found her under some of the rubble then rushed her back here."

"Sounds like you did everything right. Do you need me to go the Death Chamber with you tonight to retrieve James and Lily? I know that you both thought there was a time limit on how long you could leave them in there after you saved them. Or do you need Slick to cast the charm to retrieve Lily?" Firefox knew they didn't have a lot of time so he was trying to be sensitive since the situation was obviously very stressful for George.

"We've never left anyone in there for more than a few hours, but I do need her to cast the spell. She'll be devastated if we can't save them." George hadn't thought about that, but he needed Mione to wake up long enough to cast the spell, then he'd bring her right back to the Hospital Wing.

After he hung up with Firefox, George took a quick shower, changed his robes, and went out to give everyone an update on his girlfriend.

He looked around and saw everyone waiting for word, looking extremely worried. Cedric was sitting with Amelia and Colin, Remus, Tonks, and Sirius were sharing a couch, and Regulus and Severus were leaning against the wall looking anxious. Fred came over and put his arm around his twin's shoulder, knowing he needed the extra support.

"Poppy got her wounds all closed up. She had some internal bleeding, a broken leg, a bruised pelvis, and some broken ribs." George started. He saw Remus wince and was reminded that the former werewolf had had his fair share of injuries over the years.

"She's under a dreamless sleep potion for now and she'll have to be extra careful. Poppy wanted the potions and magic to focus on healing her internal injuries and her leg, so her ribs and pelvis will have to heal more naturally." He continued. Everyone in the room could sense that he wasn't done talking yet so he took a deep breath and continued.

"In order to retrieve Lily and James, I'll have to take her with me sometime tonight to cast the charm in the Death Chamber. We don't have a very long time period to rescue them from the archway before they're lost forever but I think I'll need some help. Assuming she wakes up in a few hours, I'll have to carry her there and then hold her up as we cast the charms. She can't put weight on her hips according to Poppy. I can't deal with a freaked out James and Lily, so I think it would be best if Sirius and Remus come with us. Is that ok with you guys?"

George had thought about this during his shower. He needed to have others there with him, preferably people that already knew the secret and that James and Lily would recognize. Who better than the other marauders? Remus and Sirius quickly accepted and George told them what to wear and that he'd be back down with Mione once she woke up.

He finally returned to the Hospital Wing about an hour after he left. When he arrived he found Harry still holding Mione's hand and brushing one of her curls away from her forehead. His eyes were a bit red and George understood exactly where he was coming from. He himself kept having flashbacks to seeing Fred's dead body in the Great Hall during the Final Battle. Harry hated seeing anyone he loved hurt, but Mione was extra special to him. She'd always been there.

"Hey mate, how's she doing?" George asked to announce his presence to the dark haired wizard.

"She hasn't really moved at all. She looks a bit better though, less peaky." Harry said standing up and brushing a kiss over Hermione's forehead and squeezing her hand before he let it go.

"Sorry George, I have to get back to the office and let them know where I went. I kind of just disappeared. I know she's in good hands with you though, so I'll be back later. Is this top secret or can I tell Gin?" Harry asked. As Head Auror he knew that some things were too sensitive to be shared, especially since he didn't know the whole situation.

"Um actually Harry, don't tell her just yet. There are some things that we need to resolve before people can really know she's hurt. I need to not have her being watched constantly by my family. Oh and if we're not here later when you come back, don't alarm Poppy. I promise not to do anything to harm her, but we have to finish our mission tonight. You'll know what it is tomorrow I promise. It just has to be finished before I can tell you." George said nervously. He needed Harry to cover for him and he knew Harry was really protective of Hermione.

"Ok George I trust you, only cause I know you're in love with her and would never jeopardize her health on purpose. Be careful ok? I'll see you later; let me know if anything changes." Harry said while he walked out of the Hospital Wing toward the front entrance of the school.

George stayed with Hermione for a few hours before he felt her start to stir. He held her hand and whispered in her ear to open her eyes.

"Mione, sweetheart, open your eyes sweetie. Wake up baby." He said quietly and felt her squeeze his hand before her eyes fluttered open.

"Ow, wha- where am I? What happened?" George could see the many questions in her eyes so he tried to answer everything she's ask.

"Baby you're in the hospital wing at Hogwarts. Don't worry, we're back in our time. I think you must have fallen through when the floor collapsed in baby Harry's room and you were buried under some rubble. You have a few broken ribs and a bruised pelvis, but Poppy was able to mend your broken leg and internal injuries. You'll need to be careful and you can't put weight on your hips for a few days. How are you feeling?"

Hermione processed everything George told her and she remembered falling through the floor and pushing Harry to safety.

"I think I feel ok. It hurts a bit to breathe, but that'll be from my broken ribs. How long have I been out?" Logical Hermione knew that they needed to get Lily and James quickly and hoped she hadn't been out for too long.

"You've been out for about 8 hours now, it's about midnight and Poppy went to bed about an hour ago. I'm sorry; she gave you dreamless sleep before I could react. I was in shock a bit at the time. I have a plan to get Lily and James though. I'm going to have Remus and Sirius come with us. That way we won't have to worry about James and Lily freaking out, and Remus can hold you up while we cast the spells. I think we'll have to do it about the same time since they died so close together and we're running low on time. Do you think you're up for going?" George asked her, already knowing the answer.

"Pick me up and we'll go right now, but be quiet Poppy will have our heads if she realizes I'm gone." Hermione gingerly raised her arms waiting for George to pick her up.

George gently lifted his girlfriend into his arms and couldn't help the few tears that escaped when he felt her right where she belonged. She looked up and saw his tears, wiping them away and kissing his neck where she could reach without hurting herself. She knew what thoughts were going through his head, but they'd deal with them later when they had time.

They headed out the door of the hospital wing and toward the Great Hall so that George could just floo her down to the Chamber of Secrets to get Remus and Sirius. Flitwick passed them and told them good luck with a wink and a smile to show he was glad Hermione was ok.

Once they got to the Chamber, Tonks rushed over to Hermione and kissed her on the cheek. She was clumsy still and knew that hugging her would probably result in injury. George nodded to Fred and finally the four rescuers flooed to the Department of Mysteries.

Entering the Death Chamber, George handed Hermione back her wand and passed her to Remus. He couldn't cast the charm with her in his arms and he knew that Remus wouldn't let her get any more hurt. Remus tenderly took her in his arms and kissed her hair, letting her know he was glad she was ok. He'd been freaking out not being able to see her.

Both Hermione and George told Sirius and Remus to stand back and they looked at the archway. It was shuddering and they knew they were running out of time. They both cast their charms at the same time, hoping both of the Potters would come out alive.

The archway started to shake and the room felt as though there was an earthquake happening. Remus tried to keep Hermione from moving and braced himself against the shaking. Sirius fell over and George was concentrating with all his might on the veil as though willing James and Lily to emerge.

Suddenly he saw a bright flash and heard two thumps before a deafening crack sounded throughout the room. Once his eyes adjusted from the bright light he noticed the archway was cracked in half and the veil appeared to be gone. More importantly at the moment though, were the two bodies lying on the floor in front of the arch. He looked at Remus and Sirius and they all ran forward to see if James and Lily were ok. George and Sirius kneeled next to them and rolled them over to face up.

James started to stir first and groggily opened his eyes, which widened immediately on seeing Sirius standing in front of him. He remembered meeting Harry in the graveyard and coming out of the Resurrection Stone to help him as well and he knew that Sirius had died too. Where were they then?

As James was trying to work through his thoughts, Lily's eyelashes were slowly opening and she smiled when she saw Remus with a young woman in his arms. She also knew that they had died, but quickly figured out that something important was happening.

"Lily Flower are you ok?" She heard Sirius's voice and then saw her husband sit up next to him.

"Yeah Siri I'm fine, confused a bit, but ok. James, Siri, Remi, are you guys ok? I could have sworn we were all dead..." She trailed off to let the others fill in the blanks if they knew.

"I'm alright love" James said standing with Sirius's help and walking over to help her up,

"We're all great Lily, let's get back to headquarters and we'll explain everything ok? Just hold onto George over here and he'll get you through the floo, James you can hold onto me and Mione with go with Remus." Sirius explained to them. The six people looked back at the veil and Hermione looked sadly over at George. He'd never get his uncles back now; the veil was broken for good.

George saw her look and leaned over "Mione it's ok, I have my brother back and everyone else, I'm ok. Don't worry. It's better the veil is broken now. Nobody else can be lost in it like Sirius was." Hermione nodded and they all went back to headquarters where George tucked Hermione in on a bed he conjured in the main room. She wanted to be part of the conversation but had to lie down.

Remus, Sirius, and the others all helped explain the situation and then the marauders, Snape, Fred and Tonks all stayed up with Lily and James to explain Harry's life and more current events so they weren't so behind.

Once things calmed down a bit, George took Mione back up to the Hospital wing, but not before Remus, Sirius, Tonks, and Fred all kissed her temple, forehead, and cheeks and told her to get better soon.

George wasn't surprised to find Harry waiting for them in the hospital wing. Harry raised his eyebrows and George nodded to let him know their mission was done and he'd get more info the next day. After calling and reporting in with Firefox, George settled down in the chair next to Hermione's bed and fell asleep. Harry sent an owl to Ginny and told her he had an emergency and he would see her the next day, he also sent a letter in to Kingsley letting him know that he wouldn't be in to work. He had a feeling whatever his friends had been working on was big.


	16. Chapter 16

**I don't own Harry Potter or any of the characters in the series. **

**Thanks for your reviews! Enjoy the chapter! This is kind of fluff, Harry will get the story next chapter and meet his parents I think. I'll try to get it done either tonight or in the next few days. **

**Sampdoria: I know I hated not rescuing Fabian and Gideon, but it couldn't be perfect **** Thanks for reading and Harry should be finding everything out soon! Yay!**

**Blstedman: Sorry it took a little while to update! I agree about the uncles, I was sad to not rescue them but I didn't really want to make up their whole background story… plus can you imagine a world where Fabian, Gideon, the Marauders, and Fred and George are all alive at the same time? **

After most of the rescuees went to bed, Sirius, Remus, Tonks, James and Lily all went into the room that Remus and Tonks were staying in. As soon as they closed the door, Sirius pulled James into a fierce hug and held on for dear life. James knew his brothers had missed him for the years they were without him, so he just held onto Sirius and let him cry. He'd missed his friends too but he didn't have to deal with the agony of losing them. He knew some of what Sirius had been through, but he hadn't really come out and talked about his life without his friends much.

While James and Sirius were reuniting, Remus walked over to Lily and pulled her into his arms. She started crying just knowing that he had been without support for so long.

"Merlin Lily Bean I missed you, you're my sister just like Padfoot and Prongs are brothers. It killed me when I heard about what happened. I didn't find out till the next day since it was a full moon. I hated myself for letting anything happen to you and knowing I couldn't fix it. Then Dumbledore fixed the wards on Privet drive so I couldn't even go and see Harry. I failed you, will you forgive me?"

"There's nothing to forgive Remi, I love you and that won't ever change, you're my brother and you did what you could. You protected Harry once you had access to him again. Now can I properly meet your wife?"

Remus chuckled and waved Tonks over. "Lily this is Dora, she goes by Tonks even though her last name is Lupin now. She also goes by mum…" They hadn't told James and Lily about Teddy yet and he watched as Lily's jaw dropped and her face lit up.

She turned to Remus and said "You have a kid? Remi why didn't you say anything? Is it a boy or girl? How old? Where are they at?" She was starting to rapid fire questions at him and he waved a hand to stop her while Sirius and James rejoined the group.

She looked at James and then at Remus who was pulling a picture out of his pocket.

"This Lily and Prongs, is our son Teddy Lupin. He's about two now and is a metamorphagus just like Dora. Harry's the godfather and Mione is the godmother."

James was gaping at him and Lily was beaming. She was an aunty!

"Merlin Moony, you're a dad! So with all the secrecy I expect you haven't gotten to see him yet huh? Did he get any of your furry problem? I know you were always worried about that…" James trailed off.

"We haven't gotten to see him yet, and apparently he hears better than average but otherwise he's completely normal. As for my furry little problem, it was cured when I came back!" He said with obvious joy and awe.

James and Lily couldn't have been happier and pulled his friend and brother into a fierce hug and whispered that he missed him and he was so happy for him in the former werewolf's ear. Then he turned to Tonks and said "Welcome to the family Tonks, thanks for taking care of Remi while we couldn't."

She beamed and held Remus' hand and he pulled her to his side and wrapped his arm around her.

Sirius was just glad his family was back. He had gotten to hug his brother (yes Regulus was his blood brother, but James was his real brother) and after tearful words that they will never talk about again, they rejoined the group. He had to laugh at the look on James's face when he found out about Teddy.

While James was talking to Dora, he walked over to Lily and pulled her to him in a tight hug.

"Lily Flower, Merlin I missed you, you are my sister, and my heart broke when I saw you lying there that night. And you saved Harry. Just, thank you. He's amazing. He's so full of love and he is courageous, brave, smart, and considerate, he is basically you but looks like James. You'll be so proud of him. I'm glad you're back Lily Flower, I love you." He kissed her temple and released her, wiping the tears off of her cheeks before placing another kiss on her forehead.

"Siri? You seem so different, it's like some of your life is completely gone from your eyes, what happened to you when we were gone?" Lily had gotten everyone's attention with her question and he took a deep breath. He looked to Remus, who shrugged and gave him a sympathetic smile.

"Well Lily Flower, our brilliant plan didn't work out as you know. Wormtail, the filthy traitor, betrayed you and sent Voldemort after you. That night I went to check on the bastard and he wasn't home. There wasn't even any sign of a struggle so I knew something was wrong. I went straight to your house on my motorbike and when I got there… (his voice broke and he took a deep breath) the dark mark was above the house and it was in ruins.

I knew I'd failed you and landed and stumbled off my bike. I went through the front door and immediately saw James lying in front of the stairs. I was frantic, thinking maybe he wasn't gone, but when I saw his eyes and his crooked glasses, I knew I was too late. I was sobbing already and could barely see where I was going for the tears in my eyes.

I ran up the stairs to check on you Lily and gasped when I saw a large portion of the top floor had collapsed. I saw your hair first, sticking out of the doorway and ran to you. Your eyes were blank too and my heart broke seeing where you were positioned, right in front of Harry's overturned crib.

That's when my mind really came back, I had to find Harry so I looked around in desperation and the roaring that had been in my ears since my world started falling apart faded and I heard him crying. Merlin I was so relieved, he was lying on the safe side of the room by an empty black cloak and he had a cut on his forehead but he seemed fine.

He looked up at me and stopped wailing, still whimpering he said "Pa'foo huwrt ow" and pointed to his head. I wiped off the blood and saw a lightning bolt shaped cut and made the connection that he'd survived a killing curse, that's the only thing I could think of and I knew Voldemort would have tried it on him. I kissed his owie and held him tightly to my chest while I picked my way carefully back downstairs.

I was planning to go to Hogwarts to try to explain to Dumbledore what happened and have Poppy look Harry over, but Hagrid met me downstairs and said Dumbledore ordered him to come get Harry and bring him to him. I kissed Harry again and gave Hagrid my motorbike to get him there safely.

That's when I lost it though, without Harry in my arms I had nothing to stop me so I transformed into Padfoot and sought out Peter. I finally caught up with him in Muggle London in an alleyway. That's when things went even more wrong. I was about to curse him when he yelled "James and Lily, Sirius how could you?" and blasted the pavement behind him. He killed a bunch of muggles and then he cut of his finger and transformed into the rat he was and joined the other rats in the sewer, leaving me at the scene, alone, and laughing hysterically because I had just lost everything and there was nobody left who knew the truth.

The aurors came and Moody looked at me like he couldn't believe what happened, but once Barty Crouch got to the scene he sent me straight to Azkaban without a trial. (James and Lily gasped while Lily's hand tightened around Sirius's) I spent the next twelve years there in agony. Being Padfoot helped and then one day I asked Fudge for his crossword. I really just wanted to see what the date was. On the front of his paper, there was a picture of a wizarding family. On one boy's shoulder sat the one and only, Peter Pettigrew. The article said that the kids went to school at Hogwarts, with Harry.

I knew I had to escape, so one night I transformed into Padfoot and squeezed through the bars, the dementors didn't notice because animals have less definable emotions. I swam back to shore and headed off to Hogwarts. Where I met Harry and Remus, along with Pettigrew."

James and Lily were shocked and both hugged Sirius and apologized for everything he'd gone through. They soon decided it was time for bed and went their separate ways.

Sirius looked at Remus and Tonks "Do you think Mione is ok?" she hadn't looked great earlier and he was concerned for the new member of his family.

Remus answered "Yeah, she said she was just tired, I expect they'll be back down here tomorrow with Harry and Ginny."

"Ok night lovebirds" he said making his way to his bed.

They both shook their heads "Night Padfoot."

Sirius, Remus, and Tonks all knew they needed their sleep if they were going to be telling the Potters about Harry's life the next day.

Meanwhile, Fred was in his room debating the best way to help his brother. He finally snuck over to George's stuff and found Harry's invisibility cloak with Hermione's uniform. He pulled it out and went over to the floo. He couldn't floo anywhere that someone might see him so he decided on George's teaching quarters.

Looking in the mirror once he arrived, he cast a glamour charm to make himself look earless and walked out of the portrait. Luckily nobody was around so he pulled on the cloak and made his way to the hospital wing. He slipped in the door and saw his twin holding a sleeping Hermione's hand while Harry was on the other side of the bed leaned back in a chair with Mione's other hand in his.

Once he was sure Harry was asleep, Fred put his hands on George's shoulders. George looked up to see who was there and Fred whispered his identity to his brother. George quickly pulled out his wand and cast muffliato around them.

"Gred, what are you doing out of headquarters?" He looked around frantically making sure nobody knew his twin was out.

"Relax oh holy twin of mine, nobody knows I'm here. I just wanted to come check on you. Mione told me a bit about how you were after I died and I know seeing her like this isn't easy for you."

George nodded and felt a hand on his back, rubbing circles, giving him support. This was something the twins had been doing forever to make each other feel stronger. He hadn't thought he'd ever feel Fred's hand on his back again and now here he was.

The emotions he'd been holding back for days started to overwhelm him and tears started to roll down his face. Fred just kept rubbing his back while he went through the thankfulness he felt at being able to save his brother, the worry he felt for Hermione, the pain he felt at watching not only Fred, but the others die, and finally, he felt huge relief knowing that Hermione and Fred were ok.

"Forge, you should sleep. I'll stay here and wake you up in the morning ok?" Fred said and got his twin a pillow to put in his chair. George finally fell asleep while he knew Fred was watching over the girl of his dreams.

He didn't want to look like a crybaby, but really, anyone in his shoes would have eventually broken down.

The next morning, George was woken by a gentle hand running through his hair. Hermione was still lying down, but had a contented smile on her face while she ran her hands through George and Harry's hair and gazed lovingly at the two most important people in her life.

Her heart swelled to think they had both stayed in the hospital wing with her, especially Harry, who absolutely hated that particular part of Hogwarts.

Before either was awake enough to notice, Hermione felt a hand brush the hair from her own forehead and then felt a gentle kiss press there. She heard Fred's quiet whisper near her ear.

"I'm glad you're ok Mione, George wouldn't survive without you. He had a rough night so be easy on him if he's extra protective ok? I better get back to headquarters now, any idea when you'll be down?"

She held up two fingers to indicate two hours.

"Alright, see you then, love you Mione."

She smiled and mouthed that she loved Fred too.

A few moments later George's head lifted from the edge of the bed, and when he looked up, he found her eyes looking lovingly at him. He smiled and got up from his chair, moving closer to the bed.

"How are you feeling love?" He said caressing her cheek with the back of his hand.

"Much better, I feel like I can actually breathe today." She smiled at him.

"That was all George needed to know before he leaned down and captured her lips in a fierce, desperate kiss. She could feel all of his passion, love, and worry for her in every movement his mouth made. Her arms slowly reached up and wrapped around his neck, pulling him closer, telling him she really was ok. He slowed after a few more moments and gave her a few light kisses before releasing her lips and gently smoothing her hair down.

"Merlin love, you scared me yesterday. It was like I was lost without you, after Fred; well it was just really hard to see you lying there hurt. Now I have all three parts of me together, it's kind of an amazing feeling." He said with a grin.

"Ew what a way to wake up, at least I know her tongue's ok with the way you were kissing her George." Harry said cheekily. He was happy for them but could have done without the early morning snog session he had just witnessed.

"Wait did you say three parts? I'm confused…" Harry said, trailing off to wait for an explanation.

George and Hermione looked at each other and George called out for Poppy who bustled right over. She had been helping a student who had just come in with a huge tongue rolling out of his mouth.

"Oh Miss Granger, you're awake! I would have been over here sooner, but little Caleb Knott came in with that huge tongue, looks like one of your products Mr. Weasley, have you been roaming the halls pranking students this morning?" She asked with a grin, knowing full well that the man hadn't left Hermione's side.

Hermione and George however, looked at each other and burst into laughter, knowing who had pranked the youngest Knott brother. Fred had left a little while ago and George had some WWW products in his room.

After Madam Pompfrey did a follow up exam on Hermione she was allowed to go, as long as she took it easy.

"Now that your major wounds are healed, you can take this potion to help with your ribs and pelvis. It will help them mend much more quickly. As it is the weekend, I'll say to take it easy this weekend and you should be good as new come Monday. Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley, that means for long distances such as the one between here and her quarters she will need to be carried. Now, as I don't see any handsome, strapping young men anywhere around, I guess you two will have to suffice. Could you carry this fair maiden to her quarters?" The healer said with a grin.

The looks on the boys' faces were priceless; they'd never heard her joke around before. Finally George spoke up.

"I shall deliver the fair maiden to her quarters, making sure to avoid dragons and snakes on our quest. Arise fair maiden."

Hermione giggled as Harry jumped up and stuck his chest out in a pompous manner.

"The beautiful maiden should not be subjected to the company of one such as thou, I shall accompany milady to her quarters myself." Hermione was still giggling when George answered back.

"Alas, I fear that we shall have to solve this with a duel to see who shall win the honor of escorting the amazingly gorgeous maiden to her quarters, and winning her heart." George winked at her, grabbing a magical flower from a nearby vase.

"Alas, I fear you are correct sir, en guarde!" Harry cried as he slashed his own magical flower through the air.

They proceeded to have a spectacular "sword" fight. Both were doing extremely well at parrying the blows that came at them when finally George poked Harry in the chest and Harry dramatically clutched his wound, gasping for air, before falling gracefully and tragically onto Hermione's bed.

She looked down at him, and with a loud drawn out sigh she said "Fair raven headed knight, you have fought valiantly, but I am afraid the red knight has won my heart. But cheer up good knight, for I hear there is a feisty princess the next village over who swoons over black haired, green eyed suitors." She winked at him and they all started laughing. George picked his girlfriend up bridal style and offered his parting words.

"I was set to enjoy my spoils, but there are discussions to be had, so come along knight Potter and we shall commence with the discussing."

"Thanks Poppy!" All three yelled in unison as they exited the hospital wing, missing the smile on the matron's face. She had just gotten a glimpse of the real sides of her former students and couldn't help but think that they reminded her of the Marauders and Lily.


	17. Chapter 17

Once the trio made their way to Hermione's quarters, they relaxed and sat down together on the couch. George set his girlfriend in the middle and sat on one side of her while Harry sat on the other side. Hermione decided they needed to get started with their explanations if they'd be in the Chamber by the time she told Fred they would be.

"Harry, what we're about to tell you is going to sound completely barmy, and it's going to have a huge impact on your life. Do you want George to call and get Ginny over here to be some extra support?"

Hermione threw a look at George to make sure he agreed that Ginny should be present. It wouldn't be fair to ask Harry to keep this from his fiancée. He nodded his approval; he understood that Harry would need Ginny as his rock and knew that his sister could handle herself even when she heard about Fred. Harry was about to gain back six important people in his life and needed more support than Hermione and George could offer.

Harry answered "Uh, sure I guess, you guys really think I'll need the extra support?" He was getting a little nervous, Hermione and George both knew that he was a strong person after everything he'd dealt with; he couldn't even fathom what they could be about to tell him that they thought he'd break down.

After they both nodded in answer to his question he continued, "What about you being Unspeakables? I thought I was only allowed to know because I'm head auror, is she allowed to know what's going on for another reason?"

Hermione answered his question. "Well, I know that most Unspeakables get to share some information with one other person, typically their spouse, but, as George and I are partners, we don't need to tell each other. My first choice would have been you, honestly, but since you are already privy to the information by being head auror, I chose Ginny. This way, not only does my other best friend know, but now you can talk to your wife about everything and don't need to keep secrets." She smiled at Harry as she spoke.

"Plus, what we're about to tell you, you'll then have to release to the families and then the public, since we can't blow our cover. You automatically get the job Mr. Head Auror sir and we thought Gin Gin could help." George said cheekily.

"Alright, lets get Gin here. I think she was going to be at the shop with Bill today."

George got up and threw floo powder into Hermione's fireplace calling out "Weasley's Wizard Wheezes" as he kneeled down and stuck his head in the fire.

He saw some red hair and said "Hello Ronnikins, is Gin Gin around?" His little brother glanced up and rolled his eyes when he saw George.

"Gin! Georgipoo is in the floo for you!" Ron yelled out as he walked toward the front of the store in search of his sister. Ginny soon appeared with a smile.

"Hi big brother, you called?"

"Yeah, I have a couple of surprises for you, all good I promise, but it's a secret for now, can you come over?"

"Well I was waiting to hear from Harry, he had some kind of emergency last night and I haven't heard back from him yet this morning, but yeah I can come, let me go tell Bill I'm leaving."

"Oh actually, I've kind of got Harry held captive at the moment, he's fine, he's waiting for you (he smiled at her) when you come just say "Hogwarts, Hermione's quarters."'

"K, I'll be right there." She walked out the door again as George pulled his head back into Hermione's room.

A few minutes later, Ginny appeared and then after looking at everyone she ran over to Harry and greeted him with a hug and passionate kiss. George and Hermione were amused at the couple's antics and George moved over behind Hermione and grabbed her hips to pull her back into him. He wrapped his arms around her waist and bent down to whisper in her ear.

"We did the right thing Mione, he's gonna be so happy. I think we should just tell him as quickly as possible so he can see everyone. We can answer his questions later. Oh and did I tell you I love you yet today?" He said while kissing behind her ear and down her neck. He finally kissed her temple and set his chin on the top of her head.

Hermione, head still spinning a bit from the sensations nodded to agree with him and then whispered "You did tell me you love me, I love you too George. I think you're right, I'll hold back in the explanations and just give him some notes later." She leaned back in his arms and laid her hands over his on her stomach.

Ginny, finally done saying hello to Harry, was watching them with a mischievous grin and she raised her eyebrow. "So…. What's going on with you two?" She said, thinking they called her there to tell her they were together.

Hermione and George just grinned at her, knowing what she was thinking until she finally broke and with a huge grin, ran to her friend and her brother, grabbing them in a huge hug to make Mrs. Weasley proud. "How long? Oh my gosh! I'm so excited for you two! Is that why I'm here?"

Hermione laughed and told her they'd been together for a few weeks and then continued saying "I think you should both sit down for most of our explanations. No, this isn't why you're here Gin, although we wanted to tell you. This is the only thing you can actually share with anyone else, everything else you hear today, you're sworn to secrecy on ok?" Hermione said smiling. Ginny nodded to say she wouldn't tell.

George continued once Harry and Ginny had sat down on the couch. "Harry already knows this since he's head auror, but Gin, we're both Unspeakables." At her questioning look he continued.

"We really are professors here at Hogwarts, but that's more of our cover story. It allows us to have a job that people can verify and also allows us to work together, since we're partners that's important. We really work for the Department of Mysteries."

"No way…" Ginny's jaw dropped, she had never even started to suspect anything was weird with the two people standing in front of her. She would never have known they were Unspeakables. Harry took her hand as Hermione took over the explanation.

"I'm sure you're wondering why you're learning this information. Well, as we just explained to Harry, each of us gets to have a person that we can share our secrets with; it helps keep us sane I suppose." Hermione smiled and added "I chose you Ginny. Harry is already cleared to hear everything since he's head auror; there's no one else but you that I would want to share this with."

Ginny smiled and got up to hug her friend. "Thanks Mione, I promise I won't let you down, I'll only talk to Harry about all of this. I assume that was just the intro to what we're really going to be discussing then?"

George grinned, as did Harry and Hermione. Ginny was quick and was perfect for the position they had put her in.

"Yeah Gin Gin, that's just the tip of the iceberg. Now, onto the juicy information that I'm sure you're dying to hear." He said chuckling before he continued.

"Basically we're going to tell you about our first project. We're not going to explain much, because the important information will shock you, so Mione is going to give you some notes later on, Harry, so you can answer questions when you release this info to the public. We would let you take notes yourself, but Mione knows you'd never pass up her notes, and you'll soon be in no position to even think about writing your own."

Hermione continued, looking between Harry and Ginny. "Gin, this will be shocking and emotional for you, but it'll be less intense than how it will affect Harry, just know that we're here for support and we love you both ok? Um ok I guess we should start at the beginning?" She looked to George and he nodded.

"Ok, I know you both know about the Death Chamber in the Department of Mysteries…" She trailed off to let Harry process this since that was probably his least favorite place in the whole world.

Harry looked up sharply at Hermione and she continued "Harry did they brief you on the Death Chamber when you started as head auror?" He nodded.

"Um, yeah, I wanted to see if they knew of a way to save Sirius, so I listened really closely to that part, um they said that many people had worked on projects surrounding the veil, trying to find its purpose, how to use it, how it worked, that kind of thing. They hadn't made any progress and thought after one more team tried they'd abandon the project. The only reason they kept it available for one more team is because the team was highly recommended and their Master Unspeakable thought if anyone could find the answers, it was them. Why?" He asked and then it dawned on him.

"It's you isn't it? You're the last team. You've figured it out!" He wasn't sure if he was upset that they had been in that room or excited that they solved the mystery.

Hermione answered him, "You're absolutely right Harry, we figured it out. We've used it actually. Ok, now that you have an idea what we're talking about, we should tell you that we're using the Chamber of Secrets as our headquarters, sorry Ginny."

She knew that Ginny and Harry hated that place, but it was the most secure place she could find at Hogwarts as only Harry should have had access to it. Ginny looked horrified that they would set foot there again. That her brother had been down there at all.

Harry interrupted, "Wait, how'd you get in?" He asked, he had lost his parseltongue ability with Voldemort's demise so even he couldn't gain access to Slytherin's hideout.

"Well… Ron kind of gave me the idea when we went to get the Basilisk fangs during the last battle. He remembered you speaking parseltongue and tried it himself. I just pulled a memory of you trying it out one day and made it into a memory bubble that I can use over and over. So I just play it and gain access." She said sheepishly. Harry chuckled, his Hermione was a smart one, he'd never think of that.

George continued. "Once we got down there and cleaned up a bit, we discovered a library with books written by the four founders and many other valuable resources. Mione used her amazing research skills and soon we found what we were looking for. The veil is actually called 'The Archway of Truth' and belonged to Godric Gryffindor's grandfather. It was meant to be used to test people's true bravery and their heart. Mione's notes will explain more. Anyways, Mione here, with my help of course, worked out how to use the archway, and we came up with a plan."

Hermione looked at Harry and Ginny, who both looked a bit confused about where this was going. Knowing Harry for so long let Hermione see that he was starting to hope this might have something to do with Sirius. She continued on with the explanation.

"Basically, people were sent into the arch and then were called back out once they were deemed worthy. We found a way to cast a charm on someone to direct their soul into the arch, then we worked out another charm to bring them back out. As our first charm only dealt with the soul, the second charm provided them with a new body, based on when they were happiest. That was the easy part of the mission."

Harry and Ginny nodded to show that they both were following so far, although they seemed a bit confused about only sending the soul into the arch… wouldn't that kill someone?

"We came up with a theory that if we cast the charm on someone just before they died, it would direct their soul to the arch, then we could go to the archway and cast the retrieval charm and they would come out alive in a new body. You still with us?" Hermione asked.

Both nodded and Harry was thinking about how many people could be saved with this, he wanted to know if it worked so waved for them to continue their thoughts.

George continued "We got authorization to do some experiments, but as the charm deals with the soul, we didn't want to harm anyone. So we came up with our best idea yet. We worked out an advanced form of apparation that allowed us to travel through space and time. This would allow us to test the charm on people we knew were already going to die, allowing us to bring them back, or really, save them in the first place." He paused to let that sink in.

Harry understood the implications of the last statement and shot out of his seat with his mouth gaping and turned to Hermione. Ginny was shocked, she knew exactly who George would test this on and wanted them to continue so she knew if it worked. Harry in the meantime walked over to Hermione and saw so many emotions in her eyes. He pulled her into a hug and said "Who Mione? Did it work?"

"It worked Harry, it worked. (her voice broke slightly) We started with Remus, Tonks, Fred, Colin, and Snape. There are more, but we'll get to them in a moment, I promise." She squeezed her brother tight and then let go, and saw he had tears running down his face and a completely joyous expression. His godson would have his parents back, Harry would gain so many people he had lost; he'd missed Remus, Tonks, and Fred so much. He couldn't be happier.

Hermione continued where George left off as Harry sat back down with his fiancée. "So we basically went back in time to the final battle, found our targets right before they were killed, and cast the charm on them. We had to be careful not to be seen, we couldn't change the future. Then we came back to the future and retrieved them from the veil.

As I mentioned before, their bodies reflect the time when they were happiest, Remus is in his twenties as is Tonks, also, Remus isn't a werewolf anymore. He still has good hearing and is crazy strong, but the charm lifted his curse because he has a new body. Colin is the same age he was when he was killed, Fred is the same age as George, must be a twin thing, and Snape is about 15. I think that must have been before he became a Death Eater and when he was still friends with your mum Harry." She could tell Harry was desperate for them to continue so he could see his friends, but he would wait until Ginny calmed down.

Ginny was currently in her brothers arms sobbing at the relief of knowing Fred was ok. She'd always been closest to the twins and Ron, Fred and George never treated her like a kid and always made her feel extremely loved. George was holding his sister tightly and whispering in her ear while he kissed her hair. Once she calmed down, he released her from his arms and kissed her forehead. Harry held out his arms and quickly found them full of his fiancée.

"Ok you can continue now, I think we'd both like to know what happened next." Harry was still processing that Remus wasn't a werewolf anymore.

George continued this time, "Anyways, by using your cloak and some Unspeakable tricks we were able to make it through the first part of our mission unharmed and unseen. When we got everyone out of the arch we had to stun everyone but Fred because they all freaked out. Fred knew exactly who I was and then we got everyone back to headquarters and explained everything to them. They had to stay there till we got everyone out of the veil, so they've been down there for a few days."

"We continued on with our list and were able to save Amelia Bones. Next was Sirius. He was a bit more complicated because he had a body when he went into the veil, but we were able to save him and now he's the same age as Remus. He's desperate to see you Harry, he misses you so much. I've tried to update him on the last few years in your life, but he just needs to see you, as I'm sure you need to see him." At Hermione's words Harry fell apart. He knew they weren't done yet, but he had hoped so hard that Sirius would come back somehow and now he was back, he was here. Ginny held her crying fiancé and soothed him; it was like his heart was slowly coming back together.

He finally got up off the couch and held Hermione in a fierce hug, whispering "thank you" over and over again. He could never repay her for this, but he knew she would never want him too; she loved him.

"Merlin Mione, I love you so much, I can't believe you did this for me." He said, kissing her on her cheek.

"We're not done yet Harry, but we'll hurry up so you can see him." Harry looked at her gratefully and pulled Ginny onto his lap as he sat back down.

"Next was a hard one, we saved Cedric, I got her out of there before we could witness the horrors you went through that night Harry, but know that we saved him and it was never your fault he died in the first place." George said and then continued after Harry nodded his thanks.

"We tried to save Luna's mum next, but discovered that because she wasn't doing anything brave when she died, we couldn't call her back from the archway. Luna is ok with it though, in her weird Luna way, she knew and told us last time she saw us. We did succeed in saving Regulus, Harry, that island and cave were way too creepy and I'm so sorry you had to go in there. Once I calm down a bit I'm sure to have nightmares about the inferi in that lake."

Hermione knew she would need to explain the next part so she braced herself for Harry's reaction to her getting hurt and saving his parents.

"Our last few targets were James and Lily and Fabian and Gideon." This was the part Harry had been waiting for since he heard about Sirius.

"We went to Godric's Hollow that night, George stayed downstairs to cast the charm on James, and I went upstairs to cast it on Lily. We had to be extremely careful so that Voldemort didn't see us. After he cast the killing curse at you Harry, there was an explosion, I came out of my hiding spot to make sure you were ok, and as I was holding you, there was a collapse. The floor fell through in part of your room, so I nudged you to safety and was buried under rubble. George found me right as Sirius was coming in after the attack. That's how I got hurt yesterday. The mission we had to go on last night when I woke up, that was so important, was to get your parents out of the archway. You see, we had a time limit and weren't sure how long it was. I think the longer the person had been gone, the sooner we needed to get them out. Anyways, we took Remus and Sirius with us to get them. Remus carried me since I couldn't put any weight on my hips, and we brought Sirius to keep James and Lily from freaking out. We cast the charms at the same time since the archway was shaking, and they both came out, but the archway cracked. It's completely broken and we can't use it ever again. The important thing though, is that everyone is safe now and your parents are back too."

Harry had been almost sobbing at the information she shared and finally let go of Ginny and came up to Hermione and George. He hugged George hard; he couldn't speak at the moment, and then moved on to Hermione.

She had sat down in a chair since her pelvis was still really sore, and he gave her a quick questioning glance to see if she was ok. She nodded with tears running down her face and her picked her up in his arms and twirled her around. He held on to his sister for a few more minutes while he calmed down and when he could finally speak he did.

"Mione, George, I can't even… there are no words. Thank you, Merlin you have just given me so much, I can never say thank you enough. I love you guys, God I love you. I'm so glad you're ok too Mione." He said sitting back in awe on the couch he had vacated.

Ginny got up and hugged both of the Unspeakables as tight as she could, with tears running down her face as well.

"Thank you, thank you both so much, this means so much to me, and to Harry. I think I speak for both of us when I say, can we see them all now?"

Harry looked up wanting to hear their answer.

"Fred used the invisibility cloak last night and stayed with us in the Hospital Wing and I told him we'd be about two hours, which was about two hours ago, so if you're ready we'll go. We'll use the floo; I hooked it up since nobody would think to use it." Hermione said motioning to the fireplace.

"Actually, we'll go first and let them all know you're coming, follow us in a few minutes ok?" George said, grabbing Hermione's hand and leading her into the floo. He held her tight and yelled out their destination.

Ginny helped Harry pull himself together; he wanted to look ok to really meet his parents.

When George and Hermione came out of the floo they were greeted by everyone. George decided to take charge and said "Ok everyone, Harry and Ginny will be down in a few minutes, he's going to be ridiculously overwhelmed as it is, so could I just have Sirius, James, Lily, Remus, Tonks, and Fred stay out for now and we'll let everyone else know when it's ok to join us?"

Everyone nodded. Hermione walked over to where Sirius was talking with James and Lily. Noticing the looks of anxiousness on the parents' faces, she said "I think Harry is quite nervous and excited to meet you, but I think it would be best if we let Sirius have first go at him. He still feels like he was the cause of Sirius's death and has missed him terribly. Plus, that way Sirius can help with the introductions and give him a bit of confidence before he comes to you. Is that ok?" Lily and James both looked relieved and Sirius looked ridiculously excited.

They soon saw the floo flare green and out stepped Harry and Ginny. Ginny ran immediately into Fred's embrace and they both cried as they stood hugging fiercely, finally beckoning George to join their little reunion.

Harry stood looking apprehensive until Sirius ran up to him and engulfed him in his arms and held him tight. Harry immediately broke down, sobbing his apologies and asking for forgiveness for getting his godfather killed. Tonks and Remus stood off to the side holding each other, knowing both men needed this time together.

"I'm so sorry Sirius, so sorry, I didn't mean for you to get killed, he tricked me, I thought they were torturing you, Merlin I've missed you so much. I was never the same after you died, I just, I missed you, I'm so sorry…" Harry was saying over and over.

Sirius finally pulled back and looked his godson in the eye and held his face in his hands. They may be close to the same age now, but he was still his godson. "Harry listen to me, I love you, there is nothing to forgive, I know you didn't mean it and I never blamed you for a second. I'm sorry I left you, I didn't mean to, shh I'm here now, I'm ok. We're both ok, I'm here. I missed you so much too." Harry nodded and hugged Sirius tighter while they both calmed down a bit.

Remus then came over and hugged Harry, thanking him profusely for taking care of Teddy, and Tonks did the same. Both hugging him and telling him they missed him, but would talk a bit later. They joined Hermione and Remus picked her up and carried her to the couch, knowing she was overdoing it already.

Finally the moment came for Harry to meet his parents. Sirius took him by the shoulders and led him over to them. Everyone in the room had tears running down their faces as Sirius said "Harry, pup, meet your parents." And gave him a little push towards them.

He walked straight into Lily's arms and then felt James wrap them both in a hug. He heard his mum and dad whispering in his ears "We love you so much, you're so brave, we never meant to leave you, but we're so proud of who you've become."

He didn't have any words, he just held on tight to the parents he'd never gotten to know, while Tonks wrapped Sirius in a hug and led him over to the couch to join Hermione and Remus.

The Weasley hug finally dissipated while the Potters were all talking in James and Lily's room and Ginny came over and hugged all of the other people in the room, Sirius, Remus, and Tonks were all glad to see her.

Sirius hugged her extra tight and said "Gin, thanks for taking care of Harry, for loving him, I should have been there, but I'm so glad he had you to get through it as well as Hermione and Ron. I'll be honored to have you as a goddaughter in law." She giggled and tightened her hug.

"I didn't do it for you Padfoot, but I love you."

In the other room, Harry was getting acquainted with his parents and telling them about his life. He brought Ginny in and introduced her as his fiancée to the joy of his parents.

They all decided that since the elder Potters weren't that much older than Harry, that they'd see how their roles worked out, if they ended up being more like older siblings that was ok, if they were more like parents it was ok too.

When they were done with the tearful introductions, they all went back out into the main room and Harry introduced Hermione as his sister as he had claimed her as a part of the Potter family. They were thrilled and welcomed her to the family with open arms, literally.

Finally everything calmed down enough to call everyone else out and they spent the rest of the night getting reacquainted and planning the meeting with the families that they would need to have the next day.

After sending off official Ministry owls asking Dennis Creevey, Andromeda and Teddy, Molly, Arthur, Ron, Percy, Bill, Charlie, the Diggorys, Susan Bones, and Kingsley Shacklebolt to meet them at the front gates the next day, everyone went to bed and Harry planned what to say to the families of those that returned.


	18. Epilogue

**I don't own Harry Potter, but I am the proud owner of a ticket to see HP and the Deathly Hallows! WOO HOO! Can't wait!**

**I'm so sorry this took so long to update, I lost track of time and didn't realize it had nearly been a month! Thanks for sticking with it, this is the last chapter, I'm contemplating a sequel, if I do end up writing it, I'll put an update on this story to let you know. I'll most likely post a whole story at once though so I don't let you down with long periods between updates **

**Everyone who has reviewed, thank you so much for your support and encouragement, it helped so much!**

**And now… the chapter you've all been waiting for…. **

The next morning everyone woke up early and had breakfast together. Harry was introduced to Regulus and a younger Snape, who he thanked for everything he had done for him. He also got to see Cedric and let go of the guilt he had built up in his heart over his fellow champion's death.

Hermione and George explained to everyone that the two of them would be bringing all of their loved ones to the meeting room off of the Great Hall and that the two Unspeakables would be pretending to be as clueless as everyone else to preserve their secret positions. Harry would be leading the discussions as though the Department of Mysteries contacted him and had him briefed on the situation.

After all of the people in the room had made an oath to keep George and Hermione's positions secret unless told otherwise, the two of them left the Chamber of Secrets and headed to the front gates to let their guests in.

Minerva met them at the gate and the three professors greeted the guests. According to Hermione and George, Harry had given them a list of people to expect and so they looked around the crowd to make sure everyone was accounted for.

They waved at the whole Weasley clan, sans Ginny, who was still with Harry, waved to Andromeda and Hermione picked up Teddy and hugged him close while she greeted everyone else, they saw Dennis Creevey, Susan Bones, the Diggorys, and Kingsley all waiting to come in.

They nodded to Professor McGonagall and she led them inside to the meeting room where they saw Harry and Ginny waiting for them. Of course Mrs. Weasley went over and hugged them while Hermione walked over to let Teddy greet his godfather. She kept him in her arms as she walked back and sat off to the side with George next to her. They sat next to the Weasleys and behind Susan Bones and Dennis Creevey.

Harry nervously cleared his throat and then looked at everyone in the room with a brilliant smile.

"Hello everyone, I received a floo call last night about a most important event that occurred within the Department of Mysteries. They briefed me on this project and wanted me to inform all of you. So here goes. Some Unspeakables were working with an ancient artifact, and discovered how to work it. Or should I say, how it worked and then they did some tests. Well I can't tell you what this artifact is, but I can say that they were successful with their attempts and that in their last experiment they destroyed the artifact beyond repair.

You are here because the results of their experiment greatly impact your lives. In a very good way I assure you. Now, I want to make some things clear before I talk any more of this project, first, you will not be finding out who these Unspeakables were, but I'm sure that if you wish to let them know your thoughts, you can give me a note or tell me what you'd like them to hear and I will relay it to the people that can get them the message.

Second, there was no dark magic used, that may be your first thought, but I have looked over their research and have found it to be completely above reproach.

Please let me explain a bit and then I will take questions if you have them. If you think of something later, send me an owl and I will definitely get back to you. Everyone with me so far?" Harry paused and looked at everyone in the crowd. He mostly found confusion and looks of concentration while people struggled to understand how their lives could be affected by Unspeakables. He continued after seeing George send him a covert wink.

"Alright, basically the artifact in question was a place where people in ancient times were sent to prove their bravery and learn to not be reckless. The Unspeakables figured out a way to send a soul there instead of a person and then call it back out while giving it a new body. Obviously this was dangerous and it couldn't get out to the public.

They received permission to travel back in time to use their research and ideas on people who had already died." He paused again as he saw comprehension dawn on some faces.

"Everyone that they experimented on was killed during a brave act and had many people to love them. They used these facts and emotions to send their souls to the… artifact… and then with a similar method, pulled them back out of the veil in a new body. Is everyone following me so far?" Harry asked, it looked like almost everyone had caught on to what he was trying to lead up to. After he got confirmation that nobody was completely lost, he continued.

"The Unspeakables made a list, and then proceeded to go back in time to the moment before their targets died. They started by going back to the Battle of Hogwarts. Here they were able to send Colin Creevey, Nymphadora Lupin, Remus Lupin, Severus Snape, who is innocent by the way, and Fred Weasley to the artifact. They returned to the present and proceeded to pull all of them out of the artifact." Gasps were heard all around and people started crying. Looks of disbelief were common in the room, but Harry continued.

"There are some differences. They came back at the age they were the happiest at. Colin is the same age he was when he died, as was Tonks, Remus is in his twenties and no longer a werewolf, Severus is a teenager, and Fred was perhaps the oddest change of all as he aged to match his twin." Everyone turned to see George with tears streaming down his face and a happy grin.

"Now I promise you will get to see them in a moment but I need to continue so I can tell you who else has returned. The Unspeakables next went and rescued Amelia Bones. Their next target after that was Sirius Black, who is absolutely innocent and suffered 13 years in Azkaban for no reason; he is now the same age as Remus. They next traveled to the graveyard where Cedric Diggory was killed and were able to rescue him. They also succeeded in rescuing Regulus Black who was killed after he betrayed Voldemort to help the light side. Finally, they traveled back to Godrics Hollow on the night I received my scar. They were able to bring my parents back, and they are the same age they were when they died. Does anyone have questions before we bring them in?"

Amos Diggory raised a hand "This is permanent right? It's not just their spirit coming back for a bit? I couldn't bear losing my son again." Everyone nodded in agreement to the question.

"This is permanent, a lot of these people have a second chance at life, the others get to continue the life that was taken from them to early. They are all excited to see you." Harry answered.

George raised his hand to keep up the pretences "Can we see them now? Are their personalities the same as they were before?"

Harry answered "You can see them as soon as the questions are done, and from what I can tell their personalities are the same, some of them have been back for a few days without any weird incidences. Anything else?"

Nobody said anything, thinking if they had questions they could always owl him.

Alright, he waved his wand and a patronus came out, he spoke to it for a moment and let it go. A minute later the fireplace in that room lit up green and out stepped Colin and Cedric. The next green flare produced Amelia Bones and Snape, then Sirius and Regulus, then Fred, then Remus and Tonks, and finally James and Lily.

As each person stepped out, their loved ones ran to them and pulled them into bone breaking hugs. Dennis was beside himself and he and Colin held onto each other and wept, already making plans to talk with their parents and little sister that was a muggle.

The Diggory family were all crying and holding each other. Cedric holding his mom while his dad tried to compose himself, having a look of pure pride and love on his face.

Susan Bones was sobbing into her aunt's shoulder while Amelia rubbed her back and apologized for leaving her.

Minerva gathered Snape in a hug and apologized for how she treated him the last year of the war, thinking he was responsible for Dumbledore's murder. She also forgave him for everything he'd done to remain a spy.

Harry hugged Sirius and then Minerva wrapped him in a tight hug and told the younger marauder that she loved him and had missed him. She saw him as a son and tried to take care of him while he was a Gryffindor, knowing his family life wasn't good. She greeted Regulus and then Harry called to Kreacher and they had a little reunion.

The Weasley's let George run at Fred and hug him first. Both crying even though they'd already seen each other. Then the rest of the family joined and Fred hugged Percy especially hard and thanked him for making him laugh at the end. Everyone was crying and they pulled Harry and Hermione into the fray for a moment.

Both escaped and saw Andromeda holding onto her daughter and crying into her shoulder while Tonk's appearance shifted to her natural look because her emotions were so out of control. Remus was hugged by McGonagall and Kingsley and then was pulled into the hug with his mother in law and wife.

Hermione and Harry walked over with Teddy and tapped on their shoulders.

"Teddy, this is your mommy and daddy, say hi."

Teddy looked at the two people in front of him and broke out into a grin. While he had changed his appearance to match Harry's before, he quickly shifted to look exactly like a younger Remus with turquoise hair. Remus and Tonks had silent tears running down their faces and Teddy reached toward them. Tonks had a brilliant smile as she greeted her son, with Remus's arms around them. After a moment, Remus pulled Hermione into a hug and whispered in her ear.

"Thank you so much, this is the most amazing moment of my life. I love you Mione, so does Dora." He squeezed her tight and then returned to his family.

James and Lily were talking with Minerva after she had greeted them with love and hugs. Sirius joined the group and soon Harry, Hermione, and Ron all walked over.

Harry looked at Ron and Hermione and said "Ron, Hermione, I'd like you to meet my parents, James and Lily Potter. Mom, Dad, these are my best friends, and my family. Ron and Hermione have been there with me through everything. Oh and Hermione is a Potter, I adopted her into the family. Also, that little redheaded gorgeous woman over there is my fiancée, Ginny Weasley." He pointed out Ginny in the crowd of redheads while Hermione and Ron gave the Potters hugs and greeted Sirius.

Soon, everyone started to separate and go to their respective homes to reconnect with those they thought they had lost. Sirius was going with the Potters to Grimmauld Place, as were Regulus and Snape. The Creevey brothers went to share the good news with their family, Amelia and Susan went to Susan's flat to spend time together, Remus and Tonks went with Andromeda and Teddy with promises to visit Grimmauld Place the next day, the Diggorys owled Cho to let her know to come over, as well as the rest of their extended family, and finally, all the Weasleys were headed home to the Burrow.

Hermione decided to go to Grimmauld Place and get to know the Potters a bit more; there would be a party the next day with the Weasleys and Potters so she would get to see Fred and George then. George told his family he'd be home in a moment and stayed behind with Hermione while McGonagall and Kingsley both left the room.

He swept her up in his arms and held her tight. "You are amazing, we're amazing, it all worked out. God I love you Mione. Thank you so much for giving me back my twin. By the way, Fred absolutely adores you and totally approves of you for me." He said before he captured her lips in a searing and passionate kiss that left her knees weak and her head spinning.

When she could think coherently again she said "I love you too George, I'm so glad we had this adventure together and that I could bring him back to you. You should go to your family and pretend to have not caught up with Fred yet. I love you!"

He looked at her again and said "I think this is the start of a beautiful relationship. I also have an idea of our next project if we get any say in it."

"Oh and what would that be love?"

"Well, we gave so many great people their family members back, but we missed one amazing person that needs his family too. You think we could help Neville out next?"

"George that's a brilliant idea. I love it and I would love you work with you on that. Now, get home and see your twin and laugh at him behind your mum's back as she hugs the stuffing out of him." She said with a wink and kissed him again before watching him go toward the floo and return to the Burrow.

She looked around the room and finally went to Grimmauld Place and was met with the sounds of laughing and she saw a smile brighter than she'd ever seen on Harry's face as he pulled her out of the fireplace and spun her around in his arms thanking her yet again for bringing back everyone he loved.

THE END :)


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